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^ublicationji of tl^e %p^icl) "^imtical ^ociet^ 



A SKETCPI OF THE LIFE 



OF 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 

FOUNDER OF IPSWICH, MASSACHUSETTS 

IN 1633 

BY / 

r 

THOMAS FRANKLIN WATERS 



PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY 

1899 



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SHntbtrsitp Prtiss: 
John Wilson and Son, Camihudoe, U.S.A. 




PREFATORY NOTE 

T^THEN Mr. Waters consulted me at the outset with refer- 
» * ence to this publication, I thought it peculiarly appro- 
priate that the task should have been undertaken by a President 
of the Ipswich Historical Society, and I have therefore done my 
best to aid him, partly by disinterring from famUy-papers some 
little new material of local interest, partly by drawing attention 
to letters so long ago printed in different volumes, some of them 
now very rare, that they have been gradually lost sight of even 
by students. 

At his suggestion, also, I have taken pains to provide suitable 
illustrations. The frontispiece is an unusually successful repro- 
duction of the well-known but much discolored portrait of John 
Winthrop, Jr., in early life, — the only authentic likeness of him 
at any period, and still in possession of a branch of his descend- 
ants. The facsimiles of manuscripts relating to Ipswich are 
taken from originals given by me a number of years ago to the 
Essex Institute. Two of them are reproduced in full size, the 
others have been a little reduced to avoid folding. 

It should be borne in mind that the purpose of this Sketch 
has merely been to glean from a variety of sources, and place on 
record for convenient reference, the principal events in the life 
of the subject from his arrival in Boston in November, 1631, to 
his retirement from the Massachusetts magistracy in the spring 
of 1650. His previous experiences in Europe, and his long 
public career in Connecticut, are but briefly and incidentally 
described. 



vi PREFATORY NOTE 

Nearly seventy years have passed away since Felt prepared 
for his History of Ipswich an account of the younger Winthrop, 
which necessarily contained many omissions and some inaccu- 
racies. Later writers have rarely taken the trouble to avail 
themselves of the additional material which has since slowly 
accumulated. The present narrative, short as it is, contains an 
assemblage of facts which have been got together with a good 
deal of labor, and so far as it goes, it may fairly be regarded as 
authoritative. In view, however, of the possibility that, when 
least expected, additional manuscripts may turn up, throwing 
further light upon Winthrop's connection with the town of 
Ipswich, this volume has been stereotyped in order to facili- 
tate corrections and additions whenever needed. 

Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. 



This doth testify that I Maskonomett did give to M' John Wiu- 
throp all that ground that is bctweone the creeke eomOly called Labour 
in Vaine creeke, & the creeke called Chybacko Creeke, for w* I doe 
acknowledge to have received full satisfaction in wampampeage & 
other things : and I doe heerby also for the sGme of twenty pounds to 
be paid unto me by the said John Winthrop, I doe fully resigne up all 
my right of the whole towne of Ipsw"."* as farre as the bounds therof 
shall goe, all the woods, meadowcs, pastures & broken up grounds, unto 
the said John Winthrop in the name of the rest of the English there 
planted, and I doe bind my selfe to make it cleere from the claimes of 
any other Indiens whatsoever. 

Maskonomett his marke.' 

Witnesses to this : 
Gyles ffyrmin 
Adam Winthrop 

HXJGn HiLLIARD 

his marko 
Deane Winthrop 

' The whole of this agreement, with the exception of the mark of Maskanomett, 
that of Hugh Hilliard, and the signatures of tlie three other witnesses, is in the hand- 
writing of Jolin Winthrop, Jr., wliose indorsement (not reproduced in the facsimile) 
is " Maskanomett's sale of IpsW'." It was evidently executed at some time prior to 
the deed of June 28, 1G38, as in the former the sum of £20 is mentioned as " to be 
paid," wliile in the latter the Sagamore acknowledges the receipt of " f\ill satisfaction 
for all former agreements." 



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I Musconominet, Sagamore of Agawam, doe by theise p'sents ac- 
knowledge to have Received of M' John Winthrop the some of Twenty 
poundes, in ful satisfacon of all the Right, property and Cleame, I 
have or ought to have, unto all the land lying and being in the Bay of 
Agawam, alls Ipswich, being soe called now by the English, as well 
alsuch land as I formerly reserved unto my owne use at Cliibocco, as 
alsoe all other lands belonging unto me in tliose parts, M' Dummers 
farme excepted only. And I herby relinquish all the Right and Interest 
I have unto all the Havens, Rivera, Creekes, Islands, huntings and 
fishings, with all the woodes, swampes, timber and whatsoever ells is or 
may be in or upon the said ground to me belongeing, and I doe hereby 
acknoledge to have received full satisfacon from the said J" Wintropp 
for all former agreements touching the p'mises or any part of them, and 
I doe hereby bind my selfe to make good the foresaid bargaine and 
saile unto the said John Wintrop his heires and assignes forever, 
and to secure him against the tytle and claime of all other Indians and 
Natives whatsoever. Witnesse my hand this 28 June 1638.' 

JIUSKONOMINET 
Witnesses hereunto . his marke. 

Thomas Coytmoke. 
James Downin(;e. 
lioBEKT Harding E. 
Jno Jollife. 

This deed above written, so signed & witnessed, being compared 
w"* the original (4 : B. p 381 : 2) word for word, stands thus entred & 
Recorded at the request of Captaine Wayte Winthrop this 15'" of feb- 
ruary 1682, as Attests 

Edwakd Rawson, Secret. 

• The body of tliis instrument is apparently in the liamlwriting of Thomas Coyt- 
niore, tlie first of tho four wituesses tlicrt'to. 



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An agreement made betweene John Winthrop of Ipswicli, Esq': 
and Sam : Dudley for the wint'ing of uync cowes. 

It is agreed that Sam : Dudley shall winter nine cowes of S' Mathew 
Boitons,' wth good hay and bowsing at Chebacco ; and for the con- 
sideration of the same he is to receive three cow calfes, after this manner 
following : that if the nyne cowes shall have but three cow calfes, then 
the said Sam : Dudley is to have them ; but if more than thi-ee, the said 
Sam : is to have the 3 worst ; but if the cowes have not 3 cow calfes, 
then to have 2 bul calfes in stead of a cow calfe ; and it is further 
agreed that when these calfes shall have eight or nyne weekes sucked, 
then to be divided. 

In witnes whereof the pties abovesd have set to their hands, 

JoiiN Winthrop. 
8' 18 : Sam : Dudley. 

1637. 

Witnesse / 

Samuel Symonds. 
Nath Rogers. 

Cows were in those da3's worth about thirtye i)oun(ls a head, but 
sine have bin sold for thirty or forty shillings a head. 
Dec"; 30'" 1700.2 

' Sir Miitliow Boynton, liart. M. P., of wliom lierea{(or. 

^ Tliis subsequont nuinioiaiicluin is in llie liaudwritiiig ol Wait Wiiilhiop, tliou 
a Judge of the Superior Court and Major-General of Militia. 







pr 



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JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 



I 

THE parentage and family connections of the subject of this 
Sketch are sufficiently dealt with in easily accessible 
works of reference.' It was a happy combination of circumstances 
that made the eldest son of Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts 
the founder of our town. His influential social position and his 
admirable personality unite to render him one of the most strik- 
ing figures of the early days of Colonial history. He had just 
completed his twenty-seventh year when he led his little com- 
pany hither, March 12, 163|, to undertake the responsible task 
of establishing a new settlement on the frontier, exposed to 
imminent danger from wily Indians and to possible attacks 
from the French, who were in possession of Nova Scotia and 
were thought to be anxious to obtain a foothold in this vicinity. 
But young Winthrop had been well trained for his work in the 
wilderness as a leader of men. Born at Groton, in Suffolk, 
February 12, 160|, he was fitted for college in the celebrated 
Free Grammar School founded by Edward VI. at Bury St. 
Edmunds, where he learned to think and act for himself, as 
every boy of spirit must when away from home and thrown 
upon his own resources. Later he acquitted himself well when 
a student of Trinity College, Dublin, where he was for several 
years under the care of his uncle Emmanuel Downing, then 

• See, among others, the two vohimes of " Life and Letters of John Winthrop," 
by the late Robert C. Winthrop, long ago published by Little, Brown & Co. of 
Boston, and the English genealogical work, entitled " Suffolk Manorial Families," 
more recently edited by J. J. Muskett. 

1 



2 SKETCH OF 

resident in Ireland, and he ended by studying law in London, 
having been admitted a barrister of the Inner Temple, February 
28, 162|. His connection with the legal profession, however, 
does not appear to have been satisfying, and before long he 
turned his thoughts to travel and adventure. Emmanuel 
Downing' s brother Joshua was then one of the Commissioners 
of the Royal Navy, and by his influence Winthrop was made, 
in May, 1627, secretary to Captain Best of the ship of war 
Due Repulse and served with the fleet under the Duke of 
Buckingham for the relief of the French Protestants of La 
Rochelle. The mortifying failure of this expedition cut short 
his chance of promotion, but his maritime experiences seem 
to have been agreeable and he thought seriously of accompany- 
ing John Endecott on his voyage to New England in the fol- 
lowing year. With reference to this plan his father wrote, 
under date of April 7, 1628 : — 

For your journey intended, seeing you have a resolution to go to 
sea, I know not where you should go with such religious company and 
under such hope of blessing; only I am loath you should think of 
settling there as yet, hut to be coming and going awhile and afterward 
to do as God shall offer occasion. You may adventure somewhat 
in the plantation at present, and hereafter more, ;is God shall give 
enlargement.^ 

As the elder Winthrop did not ally himself with the Massa- 
chusetts Bay Company until the following year, this discussion 
may have given the initial impulse toward the unsuspected 
career which awaited both himself and his son beyond the 
seas, but the latter decided to postpone his visit to the New 
World and devoted the next fourteen or fifteen months to 
European travel. The difllculties of communication were so 
great in Ihose days that ho mentions not having received a 
single line from lioim; during his aljsence, but there are in 
print several interesting letters of liis own, wliicli sliow him 

' T.ife nud Letters of Joliii WiiitIiio]i, vol. i. p. 252. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 3 

to have been several months m Italy, chiefly in Padua and 
Venice, three months in Constantinople, whence he endeavored 
without success to make a trip to Jerusalem, later in Holland 
and elsewhere.* 

Returning to London in August, 1629, he found his father 
resolved to cast in his lot with the Colony of which he shortly 
afterward became the head, and concerning which enterprise the 
son expressed himself as follows : — 

For the business of New England, I can only say no other thing 
but that I believe confidently that the whole disposition thereof is of 
the Lord, who disposeth all alterations, by his blessed will, to his own 
glory and the good of his; and therefore do assure myself that all 
things shall work together for the best therein. And for myself, I 
have seen so much of the vanity of the world, that I esteem no more of 
the diversities of countries than as so many inns, whereof the traveller 
that hath lodged in the best, or in the worst, findeth no difference when 
he cometh to his journey's end ; and I shall call that my country where 
I may most glorify God and enjoy the presence of my dearest friends. 
Therefore herein I submit myself to God's will and your's, and with 
your leave do dedicate myself (laying by all desire of other emploj'- 
ments whatsoever) to the service of God and the Company herein, with 
the whole endeavors both of body and mind.^ 

The father sailed, as we know, March 30, 1630, but the son 
remained in England more than a year longer, in order to attend 
to many matters of business and negotiate the sale of landed 
property in Suffolk. He began about this time to develop a taste 
for mechanical pursuits, and one of his letters mentions that he 
had taken careful drawings of Landguard Fort, near Harwich, 
besides inventing a new variety of windmill, which latter he 
describes at length, adding : 

If there may be made any use of it, I desire New England should 
reape the benefit, for whose sake it was invented. Et soli Deo gloria.^ 

J Life and Letters of John Winthrop, vol. i. pp. 263-275. 
2 Ihid, pp. .306-307. 

" CoUections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Series 5, vol. viii. 
pp. 23-24. 



4 SKETCH OF 

He was soon, however, to be more agreeably occupied, as on 
the 8th of February, 1G31, he married his cousin Martha Fones, 
whose sister Ehzabeth had previously become the wife of his 
brother Henry. In the following August he and his wife em- 
barked, accompanied by his stepmother, the excellent Margaret 
Winthrop, with several of her children, including an infant 
daughter who died on the voyage. The ship (the Lyon, William 
Peirce master) was ten weeks at sea, reaching Nantasket on the 
2d of November, but owing to a contrary wind was unable to 
land her passengers in Boston till the morning of the 4th, when 
the Governor records in his journal : — 

Tho captains, with tliuir companies in arms, entertained them with 
a guard and divers volleys of shot and three drakes ; and divers of the 
Assistants, and most of the people of the near plantations, came to 
welcome them, and brouglit, and sent for divers days, great store of 
provisions, as fat hogs, kids, venison, poultry, geese, partridges, etc., 
so as the like joy and manifestation of love had never been seen 
in New England. It was a great marvel that so much people and 
such store of provisions could ho gathered together at so few hours 
warning.' 

During the next sixteen months the Governor's journal con- 
tains but three entries relating to his eldest son : tlie first, March 
8, 1C3J, when the latter is mentioned as having been elected an 
Assistant, or, as we should now say, a member of tlie Executive 
Council ; — the second, Jan. 17, 1G3§, when an order of Court is 
recorded : — 

That a plantation should be begun at Agawam (being the best place 
in tlio land for tillage and cattle) least an enemy finding it void should 
possess and take it from lus. The Govemour's son (being one of the 
Assistants) was to undertake this, and to take no more out of the Bay 
than twelve men ; t!ie rest to be supplied at the coming of the next 
ship.s. 

' Wiiillirnp's Journal, or History of New Kiiglaiul, Savage's edition of 1853, vol. L 
p. SO. A "ilr.iko" was a small \npcc of arlillory. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 5 

The third entry, in March, 163|, runs : — 

The Governour's son, John Winthroii, went, with twelve more, to 
begin a plantation at Agawam, after called Ipswich.^ 

The probability is that, in the previous summer, Winthrop had 
busied himself more or less in exploring the region within reach 
of Boston, and that he already had some acquaintance with Essex 
county. Be this as it may, it would seem at first sight a cruel 
lot which condemned this cultured and travelled man, who 
had enjoyed great social advantages and had developed such 
scholarly tastes, to what must have been practically hard labor in 
a wilderness. But we shall soon see that his varied talents were 
destined to conspicuous usefulness, and there is reason to believe 
that this bright figure was the magnet wliich drew to the infant 
plantation some, at least, of its most prominent supporters, and 
gave our town the exceptional reputation which it enjoyed for 
many decades. 

The early Records of Massachusetts, edited by the late Dr. 
Shurtleff, enumerate the persons in ofiicial attendance not merely 
upon General Courts, but upon the much more frequent Courts of 
Magistrates, and it is therein shown tliat Winthrop was in Boston 
for one or more days each in the months of May, June, July, 
August, and September, 1633. It is thus obvious that his resi- 
dence in Ipswich at the outset could not have been continuous, 
and he doubtless went to and fro as occasion required. The list 
of those who first accompanied him contains no allusion to the 
good wives of the settlers, who probably remained behind while 
the rough beginnings of the town were being made. There has 
been preserved a smgle letter from Mrs. Winthrop in Boston, 
addressed "To my loving husband, M' John Winthrop, at 
Agawam." It is dated only " Thursday," but must necessarily 
have been written in the summer or autumn of 1633. Much of 

I Although this was the first orgauized settlement, straggling settlers had estab- 
lished themselves there long before, but they had been withdrawn by an order of the 
Court in September, 1630. 



6 SKETCH OF 

it is in a peculiar cipher often used by him and which he had 
evidently taught his wife, who adds : — 

I send 4 letters that came by M' Grant. The peices you writ for are 
not yet ready, but I will send them as soon as I can. I have many 
things to write, but at this time I am forced to brake off by reason of 
the spedy returne of the mesinger.^ 

Under date of Oct. 10, 1633, Governor Winthrop mentions 
that on that day a Mr. Grant arrived in the ship James, having 
been but eight weeks between Gravesend and Salem. If the 
" 4 letters " just mentioned were brought by him, one of them 
must have been from Winthrop's intimate friend and occa- 
sional correspondent, Edward Howes, who wrote from London, 
Aug. 5, 1633; — 

You shall alsoe receive in this sliipp 3 woolfe doggs & a bitch, with 
an Irish boy to tend them ... a verie tractable fellow, yet of a bardie 
and stout corage. I am perswaded he is very honest and I could wish 
you would take him to be your servant, although he be bound to your 
father for five yeares. The fellow can reade and write reasonable well, 
which is somwhat rare for one of his condition & makes me hope the 
more of him. He as yet makes conscience of Fridayes fast from flesh, 
and doth not love to heere the Romish religion spoken against, but I 
hope with Gods grace he will become a good convert.* 

There are in print no less than thirty-two letters from Howes 
to Winthrop, all written between 1632 and 1640, many of them 
addressed or forwarded to Ipswich or Salem, and exhibiting the 
writer as a man of intelligence and humor, unwearied in send- 
ing miscellaneous articles across the Atlantic, from " Quodling 
apple-slips," probably destined for Essex orchards, to learned 
works on scientific subjects and catalogues of Leipsic booksellers. 
He repeatedly talked of jniniug his friend but could not quite 
bring his mind to it, for although warmly interested in the Massa- 
chusetts Colony he was not altogether sanguine about its pros- 

' Unpublished Winthrop Papers. 

' Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Series 4, vol. vi. pp. 491,492 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 7 

pects, witness the following extract from a letter of his dated 
March 18, 1633 : — 

Generally all that knows your father wishe him well, and the most 
prophanest that I heare speake of him doe but pittie him for selling soe 
good an estate here for want and penurie in New England. It is the 
opinion of all straingers that knowe you not, that the most of ye are 
starved and the rest cominge home againe.^ 

On the 24th of October, 1633, Governor Winthrop wrote : — 

I bless the Lord for the continuance of yo' healthe & of yo' Com- 
panye, but I am sorye to heare yo' house is in no more forwardnesse. I 
doubt you will not have it fitt for habitation this winter. . . . For the 
steeres I sent I had worde from you to send one & I knewe you might 
more easyly make use of 2 than one. If none of yo' neighbo" can or 
will litt them for yo' owne & their use I will send for them againe. If 
you make but a slead, you may drawe wood & timber enough w'?" them. 
For the old come you desire, I canot helpe you w"" above one hlid (for 
I have not 2 lefte) but I have bought a hhd of English meale for you, 
w"." I will send you by the next conveyance (if you resolve to winter 
there) . . . For other things yo' wife will write to you.^ 

This letter crossed a hurried one from Winthrop of the same 
date, addressed " To my deare wife M" Martha Winthrop, in 
Boston." The first sixteen lines are in the cipher above men- 
tioned, but the writer concludes : — 

Send the peices by William Sargeant and send Johns shirts, for he 
wanteth them very much ; and if it be the latter end of next weeke 
before he cometh then send your maide and girle and Elizabeth Strat- 
ton, for the winter wilbe so neere now & the wether could, that it wilbe 
tedious for them to come by water. But then send a hogshead of meale 
and a sacke of samp come ready ground, if he can bring them. If not, 
then a sacke of meale, and make some more sackes & some for our use 
heere, and send some bedding w'" them. If he can not bring them, then 
the weeke after next send them w*" John Gallop, and speake to him 
beforehand to come to bring the maids, & lade him w'" such things as 
you have ready, my chests and such meale as I wrote my father for as is 

1 Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Series 3, vol. ix. p. 256. 
' Life and Letters of John Winthrop, vol. ii. p. 415. 



8 SKETCH OF 

ready, and all your cliests & things you can spare alsoe. Pray my 
father to send me a sow of lead by William Sergeant. So I comend you 
to the helpe & protection of God, & rest 

Thy loving husband, 
Agawam, Octo:24, 1633. JoHN WiNTHROP 

Remeber my duty to my father & mother, and my love all freinds. 
In haste, farewell.' 

Winthrop does not appear to have been in Boston between the 
autumn of 1633 and the early spring of 1634, and it is clear from 
the foregoing letter that he got the house ready in season to 
receive his wife not long after, but their winter could not have 
faUed to be one of some discomfort. On the first of April, 1634, 
he was in Boston at a Court, and two days later his father and 
he must have had a fatiguing tramp, as the former writes in his 
journal of April 3, that he 

Went on foot to Agawam, and because the people there wanted a 
minister spent the Sabbatlx with them and exercised by way of prophecy, 
and returned home the 10'." 

The Governor thus seems to have been for the better part of 
a week a guest in his son's home, a home wliich was undoubtedly 
a happy one and which we may assume to have now become 
as comfortable as its simple structure and rude surround- 
ings admitted of. On tlie 3d of June the son was again 
in Boston. On the 20th of July he wrote from Ipswich to 
his father concerning some accounts received from England, 
taking occasion to mention a scheme of his own for exchanging 
beaver skins for goats, and expressing a wish for more corn, 
together with " some munition ordnance, muskets, carbines, pikes 
& such as are to be had." * He closes with remembrances to 
various members of his family from himself and wife, from which 

' rn|iulilisliccl Wiiillirop Papers. 

- Of llio iimiieroiis Iftlors in i'xistiM\r« from J<ilin Winthrop, ,lr., this is one of 
two bearing the date " Agawam," for which rcatfon it was i,'iv(>n to tliis Society by 
R. C. Winthrop, Jr., in 1896. It is to be found printed in Massachusetts Historical 
Society's Proceedings, Series 2, vol. xi. p. .^. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 9 

we may reasonably infer that the latter was then in good health, 
but at some time between the date of this letter and October, — 
probably in the latter part of August or early in September, — 
Mrs. Winthrop and her little daughter sickened and died, and 
were laid away somewhere in the Old Burying ground.' It is 
greatly to be regretted that there exists no authentic portrait of 
this lady, the date of whose death and the precise spot of whose 
interment have thus far failed to be identified. 

This sudden bereavement caused an entire change in Win- 
throp's plans. It is not to be wondered at that he felt impelled 
to exchange his desolate home for other scenes and occupations, 
and his father not improbably suggested that he might make him- 
self of use to the Colony in the mother country. On the 6th of 
October, 1634, he attended a Court in Boston and shortly after- 
ward sailed for England in the same ship with Rev. John WUson, 
a letter to him from his father, dated Nov. 6, 1634, showing he 
had then been gone some time. On the 12th of December the 
Governor wrote him : — 

M' Ward continues at your house this winter, and M'' Clerk (to give 
him content) in his own. M"' CI. finds much fault with your servants 
John and Sarah, and tells me they will not earn their bread, and that 
Ned is worth them all.- 

" Ned " was an Indian whom Winthrop had been permitted by 
the General Court to take into his service, with the right to sup- 
ply him " with a peece to shoote att fowle." " M' Ward " was 
our distinguished townsman, Rev. Nathaniel Ward, who had 
become Minister of Ipswich not long before. " M' Clerk " was 
William Clarke, one of the earliest settlers, who had apparently 
been acting as Winthrop's agent, and whose name is signed to 
an inventory of the personal effects and live stock the latter 
left behind him, prepared, it would seem, after his depar- 

1 The Records of Boston contain no reference to this child, who is believed to 
have been born in Ipswich not long before her mother's deatL 
- Life and Letters of John Winthrop, vol. ii. p. 12G. 



10 SKETCH OF 

ture, and endorsed in the handwriting of his father. This is 
believed to be the earliest of Ipswich inventories, ante-dating by 
many years those of Mathew Whipple, Joseph Morse, John Whit- 
tingham, and Nathaniel Rogers, and it is therefore of peculiar 
interest to students, illustrating as it does the unassuming sur- 
roundings of a Puritan leader at the outset of a new settlement.' 
One thing about it is noticeable, the absence of any mention of 
the books known to have been sent to Winthrop by friends in 
London, or those he must have brought with him from England. 
Many of them, however, may have been packed in the " 2 great 
chests naled upp," or the " 1 chest 1 trunk w"^ I had ord' not to 
open." ^ 

TI 

Mention of the Inventory just alluded to suggests a natural 
inquiry as to the precise location of the house in question, and in 
view of the loose statements often to be found in print concerning 
supposed homes of our forefathers, coupled with the fact that 
Winthrop was a land-owner in different parts of Ipswich, it is 
desirable to treat this subject at some lengtli : — 

1. A tradition of uncertain age, which has still some currency, 
identifies the ancient Burnham house, now owned and occupied 
by Mr. and Mrs. Perley B. Lakeman, as the home of Jolm Win- 
throp, Jr., and a heliotype of it as such embollislies the published 
" Celebration of tlie Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of 
the Incorporation of the Town of Ipswich, Massachusetts " 
in 1884. This tradition would seem disproved by evidence. 

* On account of its local interest it was given to this Society by R. C. Win- 
throp, Jr., and is to be found printed both in Massachusetts Historical Society's Pro- 
ceedings, Series 2, vol. xi. pp. 4-6, and in Publications of the Ipswich Historical 
Society, V. pp. 24-26. 

^ Ho is stated to have had stored in Boston, in 1040, no less than one thousanil 
volumes. Several hundreds of them — some very rare and curious — are still in 
existence and testify to the learning and wide intellectual interests of their original 
possessor. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 11 

In 163 f the town granted to George Giddings sixteen acres of 
meadow and upland " having the highway to Cheboky on the 
North East." The region often called Argilla was at the outset 
variously known as Chebacco, Cheboky, Jeboque, etc., the name 
" further Chebacco " being applied to what is now Essex. The 
grant to Giddings was on the south west side of the Argilla 
road, about a mile from the town. In June, 1667, Giddings sold 
this property to Thomas Burnham " including my dwelling-house 
where said Thomas now liveth and twelve acres bounded by land 
of M' Jonathan Wade towards the North, land of Nathaniel 
Rogers towards the West and South, and the highway leading to 
Chebacco on the East." * The estate was held by successive gen- 
erations of Burnhams until purchased by the present owners, and 
there is nothing on record to show that Winthrop ever owned it 
or any land in its immediate vicinity. It may be added that the 
house has been pronounced by Dr. Lyon of Hartford, an expert in 
Colonial architecture, to have been built not earlier than the 
latter part of the seventeenth century, though it perhaps contains 
some timbers of the original structure. 

2. Winthrop undoubtedly owned two considerable outlying 
farms, — each of about three hundred acres, — respectively known 
as Argilla and Castle Hill farms, — the former about two miles 
from the town, near Labour in Vain creek, the latter, much more 
distant, near Ipswich Beach. Both were ultimately sold by him 
to his brother-in-law Samuel Symonds, and there is not a particle 
of evidence that he had previously lived on either. On the con- 
trary, his deeds to Symonds mention no dwelling-houses, and at 
the time of the Argilla purchase Symonds wrote Winthrop at 
length about a house he intended to build.^ 

1 Essex Deeds, 11 : 217. 

2 Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 4, vol. vii. pp. 118-121. 
Ill " Ipswich Antiquarian Papers " for September, 1883, is a wood-cut entitled " Castle 
Hill Farm-house built by John Winthrop, Jr.," but no authority is cited for this 
statement and the edifice depicted is much more likely to have been built by Daniel 
Eppes, who bought the farm of his step-father Samuel Symonds in 16G0. See Essex 
Deeds, 2 : 260. 



12 SKETCH OF 

3. A third estate of Winthrop's, — smaller, bvit nearer the 
origmal settlement, — consisted of " six acres of land lyinge near 
the River on the South side thereof." This is one of the earliest 
grants for tillage or house-lot mentioned in existing Town 
Records, but it was not made until 1634. In 1686 the widow of 
Rev. John Rogers, President of Harvard College, o\\^ied and 
occupied an estate on the west side of the open Green now 
known as the South Green, or School-house Green, and in the 
same year she claimed part of the land " outside a line drawn 
from M' Saltonstall's fence " and some land " at the end of the 
new orchard before the land of William Avory, all this upon the 
satisfaction of a grant to M"' Winthrop of six acres of land in 
1634." The town voted her £10 and provided " that the said 
land laid downe shall lie common and he not impropriated by an}- 
particular future grant to any person or persons." It is evident 
that Winthrop's grant bordered on, if it did not comprise, the 
South Green, and it apparently included not merely the fine open 
meadow long part of the Heard estate, but the property at pres- 
ent bounded by Poplar, County, and School streets.^ This would 
have made a very sightly location for his dwelling, but there is 
not a line of record, not even a floating tradition, that he ever 
built there. On the contrary, a few years later he disposed of 
part of it, as shown by a list of property of Samuel Symonds, 
prepared by himself in 1645, which includes 

a parcel of one and a half acres which said parcel was 

part of M'' John Winthrop's six acre lot there [granted liini by tlie 
freemen of the town, grunted by Winthrop to Synionds by deed 24 
October 1638. 

4. The house alludi'd to by Governor Winthrop as approach- 
ing completion in October, 1633, on a site selected by his son in 
the jjrevious Marcli, must have been erected un what is specifi- 

1 For further particulars of tliis locality, see a paper entitled " A group of old 
houses near the South Green," in rublications of the Ipswich Historical Society, V. 
pp. 57-cr.. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 13 

cally mentioned in the Town Records of 1639 as " M' Winthrop's 
house-lot at the East End," — in other words, north of the river 
and not south of it. The broad and spacious thoroughfare known 
in earliest times as " y° Hill street" and " ye Longe street," later 
as High Street, terminated at its respective extremities by streets 
known as the " "West End " and the " East End," the latter des- 
ignation surviving in the modern East Street. This East End 
bordered on a choice stretch of gently sloping hill-side lying on 
the warm southerly side of the Town HiU, divided at the outset 
into building-lots, mostly of about two acres each. Including 
Winthrop, five of the ten men of the original company whose 
names have been preserved, chose land in this immediate neigh- 
borhood,' and the three whose names are unknown may have 
dwelt here also. The common safety required that the jiioneers 
should not be far from one another, and the ideal location for 
the leader of the little settlement would seem to have been 
on the sunny slope whence he could climb in a few minutes to 
its airy summit and sweep the horizon for the sails of incoming 
trading vessels or French ships or Indian canoes, besides being 
only a little way from the river, the principal thoroughfare 
in those days and from which were drawn supplies of fish, 
clams, lobsters, and oysters. Here there is abundant reason 
to believe that Winthrop built. For instance, in the letter 
from Symonds to him in 1637 already referred to, the former 
twice mentions the latter's " neighbor Boreman," implying that 
they were near neighbors, and it is in evidence that in 1635 
the two-acre house-lot of Thomas Boreman at the East End 
was bounded on the north east by the house-lot of John 
Winthrop, Jr., and on the south west by the house-lot of 
William Bartholomew. The Town Records show that in 1639 
Bartholomew deeded this lot, with dwelling-house, cow-house, 
etc., to Lionel Chute, the village schoolmaster, and it would 

1 The other four were William Clarke, Thomas Ilowlet, Thomas Hardy, and 
Robert Coles. 



14 SKETCH OF 

lend a romantic interest to the spot if we knew that he kept 
his school there.^ 

In 1647 Thomas Boreman sold his house and land to Philip 
Longe, the former Winthrop lot being then owned or occupied by 
" M' Wade," presumably Jonathan Wade, one of the principal 
men of the town, while James Chute, son of Lionel, owned the 
Bartholomew lot.^ This last was sold, in 1692, by another James 
Chute, grandson of Lionel, to the leading merchant of that day, 
John Wainwright, who acquired lands adjoining until his home- 
stead included some fourteen acres.^ The deed from Chute to 
Wainwright recites that the purchaser had previously bought the 
former Boreman lot, which had been sold in 1648 to William 
Norton and had subsequently been owned by Nathaniel Piper. It 
appears, however, that John Wainwright actually resided, not 
upon his Bartholomew-Chute lot nor upon his Boreman-Longe 
lot, but upon the Winthrop-Wade lot, witness a deed of his father 
shortly to be referred to. 

By the original grants there were five house-lots between 
Brook Street (sometimes called Spring Street) and that of John 
Winthrop, the latter's being nearest the road to Great Neck, 
but all running up the slope of the Town Hill. The first, on the 
corner of Brook Street, has to-day a frontage of 105 feet. The 
second (still owned by the descendants of Thomas Harris, who 

1 There seems to have been no separate building for this purpose until 1053, when 
Robert Paine built one at Iiis own expense. 

' Tpswich Deeds, 1 : 123. 

« Ipswich Deeds, V: .'5")2. In 1739 Samuel Wainwright, son of John, owned the 
lot, his daughter Elizabeth inheriting it. (Fosses Deeds, 79 : 237.) June 15, 1792, 
Dr. John Manning sold it to Nathaniel Kinsman, the deed describing it as containing 
2J acres and three rods, with boundaries that make the location certain, and it is fur- 
ther identified as the lot set off to James Winthrop, Administrator of the estate of his 
uncle Samuel Winthrop (grandson of John Waiiiwriglit) towards justifying an execu- 
tion in his favor against Elizabeth Wainwright, which execution was afterward 
released by James Winthrop to his brother William and by the latter to John Man- 
ning by an instrument dated June 7, 1792. (Essex Deeds, 152 : 81.) John Kinsman, 
son of Nathaniel, sold it to Joseph Hovey, whoso daughter, Mrs. John Roberts, now 
owns and occupies it. The pedigree of this Bartholomew lot is therefore complete 
from 103.") to the present time. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 15 

bought it of "William Symonds in 1648) includes about two acres 
and has a frontage of 135 feet. The third, now divided into two, 
has a frontage of 144 feet ; the fourth (Bartholomew) of 106 feet ; 
and the fifth (Boreman) of 101 feet. It is a reasonable inference 
that these were the original dimensions, and that the Boreman 
lot touched Winthrop's at the present line of division between the 
estate of the late Tyler R. Caldwell and that of Mr. Francis 
Hovey, the Winthrop lot including Mr. Hovey's land, the lower 
end of the present Wainwright Street, and the vacant lot on 
Wainwright and East streets. It is eminently probable that the 
leader of the Colony, and a man of such prominence as the Gov- 
ernor's son, would have been originally assigned more than the 
average two acres, and while there is no record of any grant, we 
may safely assume that the dimensions of his house-lot had not 
changed when sold, in 1654, to John Johnson by Richard Wells 
of Salisbury. The latter' s deed describes a house and six acres of 
land, with Nathaniel Piper as the western abuttor and John 
Leighton on the other side.* The same property, including a 
house and seven acres of land, was sold by William Buckley to 
Elizabeth Bridgham of Boston, Nov. 24, 1671.^ A few months 
later, Feb. 27, 167J, Jonathan Bridgham sold it to Francis Wain- 
wright,^ who twenty years later (April 4, 1691) conveyed it to 
his son John, the deed reciting that John then occupied the house 
and had been promised the gift of it as far back as the time of 
his marriage.* 

John Wainwright died in 1708, and before 1746 his heirs had 



1 Ipswich Deeds, 1 : 564. 

2 Ipswich Deeds, III : 197. 
8 Ipswich Deeds, UI : 243. 

* Ipswich Deeds, V : 450. He had married, March 10, 1G75, Elizabeth, daughter 
of William Norton, and grand-daughter of Emmanuel Downing, by his second wife, 
Lucy Winthrop, aunt of John Winthrop, Jr. The association of this estate with the 
family of its original possessor was continued later on by the marriage, Nov. 7, 1700, 
of John Wainwright's daughter Anne to a grand-nephew of John Winthrop, Jr., 
Adam Winthrop, long Colonel of the Boston regiment and a Judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas. 



16 SKETCH OF 

sold the land,^ on which an ancient cellar believed to have been 
his is still visible. The splendor of his establishment is still the 
theme of local tradition, but to the lover of New England history 
a greater interest attaches to the simpler structure which stood 
on, or near, the same site, when the country around was an 
almost unbroken wilderness and when pioneer life was full of 
hardship and danger. Here was the centre of Ipswich social life 
during the first years. Hither in breathless haste came the mes- 
senger with tidings of an impending attack by the Tarratines 
upon Quarter-master Perkins's Island, now called Treadwell's. 
The first funeral procession of which we have any record in the 
little settlement bore hence, in 1634, a young wife and her 
infant to their unknown graves in the Old Burial ground. The 
time, we may hope, is not far distant when some worthy memo- 
rial may be erected to mark a spot fraught with so much endur- 
ing interest to our whole community, and to the larger circle to 
whom the character and career of John Wiuthrop the younger 
are winsome and inspiring. 



Ill 

The vessel in whicli Winthrop sailed from Boston in the 
autumn of 1634 was bound for Barnstaple in the West of Eng- 
land but was driven by a storm to the Irish coast. He therefore 
landed at Galway and availed himself of this opportunity to visit 
friends in Dublin and elsewhere, crossing from the North of Ire- 
l.md to Scotland and travelling thence by road to London, inter- 
viewing on this journey influential persons well affected to the 
Puritan cause, " whose thoughts," as his father records, " were 
towards New England, wlu) oliscrvod his coining among them as 

' Esspx Deeds, 90 : 4(5, show that, May 3, 171<), a liousp, eiglit acres and three rods 
of land, " being the lioniestead formerly Col. Jo. Wainwright's," was sold by 
Chambers Russell of Charlestown to Francis Saycr, or Sawyer, whose son and grand- 
.son succcssivelv owned it for nianv vi';ir.s. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 17 

a special Providence of God." ^ At Antrim, for instance, he was 
the guest of that zealous Presbyterian Sir John Clotworthy, M. P., 
who subsequently became first Lord Massareene, — at Ancrum in 
Scotland of Kev. John Livingstone, ancestor of the distinguished 
American family of that name, — in Yorkshire, of Sir Mathew 
Boynton, M. P., afterward an active supporter of the Parlia- 
mentary cause, but who then thought seriously of emigrating to 
New England, though he progressed no farther than sending out 
live stock and servants.- 

A few months later he was empowered by his father's friends. 
Lords Say and Brook, to begin a plantation in Connecticut, they 
guaranteeing him men, ammunition, and money for this purpose, 
and investing him with an official commission, dated July 15, 
1635, which constituted him Governor of the River Connecticut, 
with the places adjoining thereto, for one year after his arrival. 
Before sailing, he took to himself a second wife, much younger 
than himself, in the person of Elizabeth, daughter of Edmund 
Reade, of Wickford, in Essex, and step-daughter of Rev. Hugh 
Peter.^ He and his wife reached Boston in the ship Abigail, 
October 6, 1635, in company with his step-father-in-law Peter and 
young Henry Vane, who in the following May became Governor 
of the Massachusetts Colony. Early in November he sent forward 
an advance-party of twenty men to build at Saybrook a fort, the 
command of which he soon after intrusted to the well-known 
Lion Gardiner, but as large re-inforcements were expected from 
England, he himself remained behind to complete his preparations 
and did not take up his residence in Connecticut imtil the foUow- 
ins; March. A letter from his father on the 28th of that month 
mentions that his son's wife was then in Boston, where on the 

I Winthrop's History of New England, Savage's edition of 1853, pp. 205-206. 

^ For letters to Winthrop at this period from Boynton, Clotworthy, Livingstone, 
and others, see the seventh volume of the fourth Series of the Collections of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society and the fir§t volume of the fifth Series. 

' Her sister Martha became the second wife of Samuel Symonds ; her brother 
Thomas, some time of Salem, became a Colonel in the Parliamentary army; and her 
sister Margaret, widow of John Lake, died in Ipswich in 1672. 

2 



18 SKETCH OF 

24th of July she was brought to bed of a daughter Elizabeth, who 
has been sometimes erroneously stated to have been born m 
Ipswich. On the 4th of this latter month he had been commis- 
sioned by Governor Vane to treat with the Pequots/ and there is 
an undated letter from his wife about the same time, telling him 
her time is nearer than he supposes, that her mother is with her, 
that she has receiA'ed a letter from him, that it would refresh her 
heavy and sad spirit to see his dear face again, and hoping that 
he will despatch his business and return home as soon as the Lord 
shall see it fittmg. He is stated to have travelled at the risk of 
liis life through a hostile Indian country to pay her a flying visit, 
and he is recorded to have been present at a Court in Boston on 
the 6th of September. Whether he then went back to Saybrook 
is doubtful. His commission as Governor technically expired in 
November, but the hardships had been great, the re-inforcements 
inadequate, and he took no steps to have it renewed. On the 6th 
of November, his deputy, Lion Gardiner, wrote him : — 

I have received your letter, whearein I doe understand that you are 
not like to returne, and accordingo to your order I have sent your ser- 
vaunts Robeart and Sara. ... I have sent your cowes up to the planta- 
tions with 2 oxen ; 2 of them we have killed and eaten, with the goates. 
The enemie got a ram goate and all the greate swine, 22, in one day, and 
had gotten all the sheep and cowes likewise, had we not sallid out. . . . 
Heare is not 5 shillings of money and noe bevor. I pray lett us not 
want money or victualls, that some things may goe forward.'* 

On the 13th of December, 1636, he was commissioned Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel of the Essex regiment of which John Endicott was 
Colonel, and that he had then, or soon after, returned to live in 
Ipswich is apparent from the fact that two months later, 
February 1637, he was chosen one of the prudential men of the 

' His instructions are printed in Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, 
Series 3, vol. iii. pp. 129-131. T)ie 8.amo volume contains Lion G.irJiner's interesting 
" Uelation of the Peqnot Warrcs," with allusions to both John Winthrop, Jr. and 
his brother Stephen. St^e also a letter from Vane to Winthrop in Series 4, vol. vi. 

' Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Series 4, vol. vii. pp. 52-54. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 19 

town. He had been away more than two years, and the dis- 
ajDpointment caused by this protracted absence is evidenced in a 
marked degree by a noteworthy and pathetic letter to him from 
Rev. Nathaniel Ward, dated only " Ipswich, Dec. 24.", but evi- 
dently written in 1635, when Winthrop was first preparmg to go 
to Saybrook. The purpose of it was to disclose a not altogether 
satisfactory state of things. 

Our towne of late [Mr. Ward writes] but somewhat too late, have 
bene carefuU on whome they bestowe lotts, being awakned therto by 
the confluence of many ill & doubtfuU persons, & by their behaviour 
since 'they came, in drinking & pilferinge. . . . The reasons which 
move our freemen to be very considerate in the disposall of lotts & 
admission of people to us are thes : ffirst, we conceive the lesse of 
Satan's kingdome we have in our towne, the more of Gods presence & 
blessinge we may expect. 2''', we have respect to the creditt of our 
Church & towne, from which we heare there are too many unjust detrac- 
tions in the bay, to serve their own ends. 3'^, we consider our towne as 
a by or porte towne of the land, remote from neighbours, & had neede 
to be strong & of a homogeneous spirit & people, as free from danger- 
ous persons as we may. Lastly, our thoughts & feares growe very sadd 
to see such multitudes of idle & profane young men, servants & others, 
with whome we must leave our children, for whose sake & safty we 
came over, & who came with us from the land of their nativity, their 
freinds & many other comforts which their birthright intitled them to, 
relying upon our love, wisdome & care to repay them all in this wilder- 
ness either in specie or compensations ; but I must confesse it sinks us 
almost to the grave to looke upon the next generation to whome we 
must leave them & the fruite of our adventures, labours, & counseUs. 
We knowe this might have bene easily prevented by due & tymely care 
of such as had the opportunity in their hand ; & if it be not yet remedied, 
we & many others must not only say, with grief, we have made an ill 
change, even from the snare to the pitt. . . . 

We have oui- eyes upon you magistrats to helpe us : & now, good S% 
give me leave w"" patience to tell you, w' I did before you went to Eng- 
land, y' your absence hath bredd us much sorrowe, & your stil goinge 
from us to Connecticote doth much discourage us. I feare your tye or 
obligation to this State & in speciall to this towne is more then you did 
well consider when you ingaged your selfe anoth'' way, & I feare your 
indeavo's that way will not be operae ac spei prctium. I am in a dreame, 



20 SKETCH OF 

at least not awake, if it be the way of God for so many to desert this 
place, turning their backs upon us, & to seeke the good of their cattell 
more then of Com'.", & my thoughts are that God doth justly rebuke our 
State by the losse of so many men, vessells, & victualls in a tyme of 
dearthe, for their facility in giving way to their departure. For your 
parte, we looke cfe long for you here & are in a misery for the want of 
you. The Lord bring you in his season, & in the meane tyme afford 
you his p'sence & blessinge whereever you are. . . . 

I heare M' Coddington hath the saile & disposall of much provision 
come in this shipp. I entreate you to do so much as to speake to him 
in my name to reserve some meale & malt, & what victualls els he 
tlainks meete, til our river be open. Our Church will pay him duely 
for it. I am very destitute, I have not above C bushells come Ifeft, & 
oth"' things answerable.^ 

So gentle and loving an appeal from a man so capable of keen 
satire and fearless rebuke, betokens a profound regard on his part, 
and throughout the town, for their young leader ; but, as we have 
seen, they had to wait another twelvemonth. 

In the summer of 1637 arose a fresh occasion of disquiet, from 
a rumor that Winthrop was about to be appointed to the respon- 
sible post of Commander of the Castle at Boston, which would 
have taken him much away from Ipswich and probably have 
necessitated the removal of his family. What foundation there 
was for this report can not now be ascertained. Governor Win- 
throp had felt deeply the successive deaths of his second and third 
sons since his departure from England ; tlie fourth, Stephen, had 
been much absent ; while the younger ones had as yet no experi- 
ence of affairs. He miglit thus have preferred that his eldest son 
should live nearer to him ; but if such a plan was ever entertained, 
notliing came of it at that time, which may have been due to the 
foHowing petition, signed by fifty-seven of the principal inhabit- 
ants of Ipswich. 

To our much honored Gov' 3^ Coimsrllo" all Boston, these. 
Our humble duties & respects premised : understanding there is an 
Intention to call M' Winthrop Jun from us & to remitt the Custody of 
' Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Series 4, vol. vii. pp. 24-26. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 21 

the Castle to him, we could not, out of the entire affection we beare to 
him & his welfare, but become earnest petitioner^ to your worship' that 
you would not deprive our Church & Towne of one whose presence is so 
gratefull & usefuU to us. It was for his sake that many of us came to 
this place & w'^out him we should not have come. His abode with 
us hath made our abode here much more comfortable than otherwise it 
would have bene. M'' Dudley's leaving us hath made us much more 
desolate & weake than we were, & if we should loose anoth'' magistrate 
it would be too great a grief to us & breach upon us, & not a magistrate 
only but our Lieutenant Colonell so beloved of our Soldiou" & military 
men that this remote Corner would be left destitute & desolate. Neith"" 
can we conceive but that this removall from us will much prejudice & 
unsettle him ; the place he is chosen unto we feare will neith' mayntaine 
hira & his company comfortably nor prove certaine to him, but upon 
sundray occasions mutable. It would be very uncomfortable to him, as 
we suppose, to live upon others maintenace, or to neglect that portion 
of land & love which God hath given him amongst us. The improvall 
of his estate here we hope will prove a better & surer support then a 
yearly stipend from the country, w"*" hath groaned much under the bur- 
then of that Fort already. We find his affections great & constant to 
our Towne & we hope ours shall never faile towards him & his. We 
therefore humbly beseech you that we may still injoy him, & that you 
would not expose him to so solitary a life & a place where we hope there 
will not be much use of him ; nor us to the losse & want of one so much 
desired of us. The distance we are sett in hath made us earnest for the 
company of able men & as loath to loose them when we have obtained 
them. 

Thus hoping you will please to consider & tender our condition, we 
humbly take our leaves, resting 

You' worp' in all due serviss, 

Richard Saltonstall. 
Nath'' Wakde. 
John Nobton. 
Daniell Denison. 
Samuell Appleton. 
Thomas Beessye. 

ROBERTT AnDREWES. W: HuBBARD. 

Joseph Morse. Jonathan Wade. 

Christopher Osgood. William White. 

John Perkins, Jouner. John Pikkines, Senar. 



22 



SKETCH OF 



Geokge Car. 

JOHif TUTTELL. 
RiCHAKD HaFFIELD. 

George Giddings. 
Edward Gardner. 
John Satchwell. 
John Saunders. 
John Se\t;rnes. 
Antont Colby. 
Robert Mussy. 
John Peekins. 
Nathaniell Bishop. 
John Coventun. 
Allen Perley. 
John Procter. 
th05l4.s howlitt. 
Wn^LLAM Fuller. 
Alexander Knight. 
TnojLis Hardy. 



Richard Jacob. 
-Philip Fowler. 
William Goodhue. 
Roger Lancton. 
Thomas Dorman. 
Joseph Medcalfe. 
Thomas Borman. 
John Webster. 
Robert Lord. 
Thomas Wells. 
John Gassett. 
John Coggswell. 

HUMFRIE BrODSTREE. 

Thomas Cooke. 
Heughe Sherratt. 
Edward Katchham. 
Thomas Clark. 
John Gage. 
Wllliam Barthollmew. 

MiCAELL CATHERITE. 

Henri Pinnder. 
Samuell Sharjlan. 
John Jhonson. 
Thomas French. 

Some of us that are members of the Church at Boston are bold to 
clayme this promise from M'' Wintlirop for whome we write, that if we 
would come hith' w"" him he would not forsake us but live & die w'*" us. 
Upon these promises we came w"" him to beginn this plantation, and 
they were made to us upon the proposall of om* feares that when wi^ 
were drawne liith'^ he should be called way from us. And we both 
desire and hope that they may be alwayes remembered & pformed.* 

A careful comparison of the manuscript of this petition with 
that of Nathaniel Ward's letter just quoted, shows that they were 

' This manuscript was found ainoiigtlu" Wiiitlimp TaptTs and was first published 
in the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society for January, 1887, when 
several signatures were inaccurately printed. On account of its local interest the 
original was then given to the Library of the Kssex Institute, but a facsimile is here 
iDserted. So far as the contoniiiorary iiidorsonipiit can bo deciphered it reads " Ipsw' 
Letter &c " in the handwriting of .John WinMirop, Jr., but as a modern indorsement was 
added at the close of the last century, the cover and superscription are not reproduced. 




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JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 23 

both written by the same person, though in the former the writ- 
ing is more hurried, as if the writer were in haste. However 
compHmentary to Winthrop may be the body of the document, 
the postscript from some of the signers embodies a serious charge, 
in view of his ultimate removal from the town. All that can be 
said with certainty is that there is not known to exist any evi- 
dence in support of it. He appears to have headed the Agawam 
plantation in 1633 only at the desire of his father and his col- 
leagues in the magistracy. It does not seem probable that so 
cautious a man as Governor Winthrop would have consented that 
his favorite son should pin himself down, at the age of twenty- 
seven, " to live and die " in what was then a remote comer of 
New England. It seems fair, therefore, to assume that some 
misapprehension existed with regard to the precise language made 
use of at the outset, and that no distinct pledge was given on the 
subject. 

Winthrop was probably absent when the petition was signed, 
as he is recorded to have attended a Court in Boston only a fort- 
night before. During the spring and summer of 1637 he 
attended five such Courts. A long letter to him from Samuel 
Symonds, — without date, but imdoubtedly written before Dec- 
ember 14, 1637,^ — shows that he had just sold his brother-in-law 
his ArgUla farm, — part apparently of the tract referred to in the 
first of the two Indian deeds, — but that this sale indicated no 
purpose of immediate removal is clear from a postscript to the 
same letter where Symonds writes, " my wife is very glad that 
she shalbe your neighbor at Ipswich." A little later the fol- 
lowing entry appears in the Town Records, under date of 
Jan. 13, 1637: — 

Granted to M'' John Winthrope, Castle Hill and all meadow and 
marsh lying within the creeke, provided y' he lives in the Towne and 
that the Towne may have what they shall need for the building of a Fort. 

> Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 4, vol. vii. pp. 118-121. 



24 SKETCH OF 

Much obscurity attaches to this Castle Hill grant. Felt (not 
always accurate) assigns to it the date Feb. 11, 163f, while 
Samuel Symonds, writing long afterward, as will appear, says it 
was Aug. 6, 1638. The probability is that there were several 
grants, confirmatory or explanatory of one another. The matter 
might be cleared up if the Reverend Hugh Peter had been in the 
habit of fully dating his letters. From " Salem, 5 day" (in what 
month and year we can only conjecture) he wrote Governor 
Winthrop : — 

I was at Ipswich where the towne have dealt very nobly with 3-our 
son, & given him another farme neere the towne called Castle-hill, 
where he hath 100 akers of meadow, &, all intire to himselfe ; but of 
this he hath written to you.* 

It is unfortunate that this letter from Winthrop to his father 
has never been found, as it would probably have explained much 
that is now uncertain and perhaps have shown that the condition 
"provided he live in the town" was intended to be construed 
liberally, or to be subsequently released. It was perhaps in 
answer to it, though Castle Hill is not referred to, that Gov. 
Winthrop wrote, Jan. 22, 163|, to "my very loving son M' John 
Winthrop at Ipswich " : 

I received your letter, and heartily rejoice and bless the Lord for his 
merciful providence towards us all in delivering your wife from so greate 
a danger. The Lord make us trucly thankful!. And I hope it will 
teach my daughter and other women to take heed of putting pins in the 

mouth, which was never seasonable to be fed with such morecls 

Wo have appointed the General Court the 12 of the 1 moneth. [March 
12. 163|] We shall expect you here before the Court of Assistants. 
I send you herein the warrant for Ipswich and Newbury. Commend 
um to your brother and sister Dudley.^ 

That he took his wife with him when be started to attend this 
Court of Assistants seems clear from the fact that his first .son, 

' M<a.ssachusetts Historical Socioty's Collections, Series 4, vol. vi. p. 101). 
^ Life and Letters of .Tolin Winthrop, vol. ii. pp. 217-218. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 25 

who lived to figure very prominently in Connecticut history, was 
born two days after the General Court met. A family tradition 
of uncertain date assigns this birth to Ipswich, but the Records 
of Baptisms in Boston printed in recent years include the follow- 
ing entry in the year 1638 : — 

Fitz-John, son of M"' John & Elizabeth Winthrop, born 14"' l'» month. 
[March 14. 163|.] 



IV 

Although Ipswich, as already stated, was considered " the best 
place in the Bay for tillage and cattle," yet Winthrop appears to 
have made up his mind at the outset, that the prosperity of all 
parts of New England would be best served by the encourage-' 
ment of commercial and manufacturing pursuits. As early as 
September 3, 1633, he had liberty "to sett upp a trucking-house 
upp Merrymak ryver ; " ^ in the following summer we find him 
trading in furs;^ while on the 25th of June, 1638, he received 
authority to set up salt-works at Ryall-Side, then part of Salem 
though now of Beverly, where he was allowed wood enough to 
carry on the works and pasture for two cows.^ How long it took 
him to get these works in operation is uncertain, but that he had 
just taken up his abode there in May, 1639, would appear from 
the following letter, which presents a pleasing domestic picture : — 

To my deare Wife M" Elizabeth Winthrop, at Boston, 

My deare Wife, — When my brother Stephen went hence I was 
not up nor well, so that I could not write to thee. I thank God I am 
now much better than I was when he left me. Thouefh I muche desire 
to enjoy thy company, yet I would not have thee cross thy intentions 
in staying till that time be passed. I hope to fetch thee home myself, 
but am yet prevented. 

' Records of Mass., vol. i. p. 108. 

" See ante, p. 8. 

' Felt's History of Ipswicli, p. 73. 



26 SKETCH OF 

I can gett no garden inclosed nor digged, but I heare that in newe 
ground it is best to begin when the weedes are sprung up, for then they 
will be all killed and grows no more that yeare. Put my brother 
Stephen in minde to send me my carbine, as he promised me. So -with. 
my best affections and love to thee I commende thee to the Lord, and 
rest Thine in my best affections, 

J. Wentheop. 
From the Salt House, Monday morning. 

My duty to my mother. My love to my brothers & all friends for- 
get not. My blessing to Betty and Fitz. My brother Stephen hath 
promised to bringe thee home when thou comest.' 

As he is recorded to have attended a Court in Boston May 
22, 1639, it is conjectured that he had taken this opportunity to 
leave his wife and children at his father's until the Ryall-Side 
house was ready for them. Two other undated letters followed. 
In the first of them he tells his father that he " expected my wife 
and her little ones by the last pinnace." She had evidently joined 
him before the second letter was written, as in it she sends mes- 
sages to friends in Boston.^ There has been preserved his rough 
draft of a Latin letter to his friend Professor Golius of Leyden, 
introducing yoimg Francis Higginson who was about to study 
in Europe. It is distinctly dated " Salemi in Nova Anglia, 
Novemb : 20. 1639," and a little later Winthrop is for the first 
time addressed by his friend Edward Howes as " at his house in 
Salem, or elsewhere." All this implies that Ills domicile was 
transferred to Salem in the spring of 1639, but no efforts to dis- 
cover precisely when he sold or leased his Ipswich house have 

1 'J'his letter was first printed by Savage in the Appendix to tlie first volume 
of Wintlirop's New England, and the date tentatively assigned to it was " May 
lt);!8 or 1639." It was subsequently ascertained that the salt-works were not under- 
taken as early as the spring of l(i3K, and that Stephen Winthrop wivs then absent in 
England. There can hardly be a doubt tliat 1639 was the year. 

^ These two letters were jirinted many years ago in the eighth volume of the 
Fifth Series of the Ma.ssaclnisetts Historical Society's Collections, the editors of 
which assumed them to have been written from Ipswich. Subsequent investigation 
showed that the persons mentioned were not of Ipswich and that the words "heere" 
and " of this lowne" apply to Salem. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 27 

thus far proved successful. That he had not wholly severed his 
connection with the town is shown by the following letter to him 
from Rev. Ezekiel Rogers : — 

HoNOUEED SiE, — I was at Ipswich this weeke to have attended on 
you, but you were gone to the Court before I came. I liumbly thanke 
you for yoiu" kinde purpose to have scene our poore towne. In regard 
of your many buisinesses, much company, & short time, I could not 
expect such a favour at this time. But God may afford some oppor- 
tunity, when you may have more freedome. The season yesterdaj' & 
tliis day hatli liindred my fixed resolutions of wayting on you, my body 
being not strong, especially since my sicknesse. Therefore I beseech 
you to excuse me, & so with my service to yourselfe & the rest of our 
honoured magistrates, I committ you to God, & rest 

At your Commande, 

Ez: Rogers.^ 

The reference to his " many buisinesses, much company, and 
short time " indicates that he was then a good deal on the move, 
and he certainly had reason to be, in view of an unexpected dis- 
aster, intelligence of which undoubtedly reached him early that 
autumn, though it did not become common talk till later. Unlike 
his father and grandfather, the elder John Winthrop was not 
what is familiarly known as " a good manager." Besides having 
a numerous and expensive family, with a pronounced taste for 
hospitality, he had been in the habit, from the very outset, of 
spending no mconsiderable portion of his substance on the Colony. 
Absorbed in public affairs, he had been unwise enough to leave 
the management of his private concerns largely to others, and 
he one day suddenly discovered that an important sum had dis- 
appeared and that the agent he most trusted had run him heavily 
in debt. By assistance from relatives and friends, and a material 
reduction of his domestic expenses, his liabihties were gradually 
discharged, but he was a crippled man for the rest of his days, 

1 Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Series 4, vol. vii. p. 205. 
The words " our poore towne " refer to Rowley, which Ezekiel Rogers began the set- 
tlement of, with sixty families, in the spring of 1639. The Court which AVinthrop 
had gone to attend was apparently the one held in Boston in September of that year. 



28 SKETCH OF 

which made a serious cliange in the position of liis eldest son.* 
The latter had originally been heir of entail to the faniily-estate 
in Suffolk, but in order that a suitable settlement might be made 
upon his step-mother and her children, to whom he was tenderly 
attached, he voluntarily relinquished this entail in 1G31, taking 
his chance of a corresponding inheritance in the New World, — a 
chance which was now failing him. He possessed, however, a 
snug mdependent property in his own right, derived partly from 
his mother and partly by marriage. This enabled liim to come 
promptly to his father's assistance, an exhibition of filial piety 
which is touchingly alluded to in a striking letter to him from the 
latter, dated a few years later and first printed by Mather in his 
Magnalia : — 

You are [wrote the Governor] tlie chief of two families. I had by 
yoiiT mother three sons and three daugliters, and I had with her a large 
portion of outward estate. These are now all gone ; mother gone, 
brethren and sisters gone ; you only are left to see the vanity of these 
temporal things and learn wisdom thereby, which may be of more use 
to you, through the Lord's blessing, than all that inheritance which 
might have befallen you ; and for which this may stay and quiet your 
heart : that God is able to give you more than this, and that it being 
spent in the furtherance of his work, which here hath prospered so well 
through his power hitherto, you and yours may certainly expect a hberal 
portion in the prosperity and blessing thereof hereafter ; and the rather, 
because it Avas not forced from you by a father's power, but freely 
resigned by yoiu-self out of a loving and filial respect unto me, and your 
own readiness unto the work itself. 

His friends evidently learned that he was short of money, and 
in November, 1639, the General Court ordered tlic to^^^l of Ipswich 
to refund the £20 he had formerly paid the Sagamore ; " while it 

' Among tlie numerous letters of sympathy received by the Governor at this try- 
ing period were two from Giles Firniin in Ipswich. The earliest (Dec. 10, 1G30) is to 
be found in the Hutchinson Papers ; the second (Feb. 12, 1610) in the Fourth Series 
of the Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, vol. vii. 

* See ante, Indian Deeds; and Records of Mass., vol. i. p. 270. In quoting prices 
of that period, the relative purchasing-power of money is not always t;iki'n into 
account. The best authorities now rate a pounil sterling in the reign of Charles I. at 
nearly ton times its present value. £20 would thus have been about S?1000. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 29 

would appear, from a letter from Hugh Peter to his father, that 
the former had undertaken to arrange for his step-son-in-law the 
sale of Castle Hill. This letter is dated only " Salem, 6° Sept.", 
but as there is another letter from him unquestionably written on 
Sept. 6, 1640, and as before Sept. 6, 1641, Peter had left New 
England never to return, the letter in question must have been 
written in 1639, though nothing further has been ascertained 
concerning the negotiation thus referred to : — 

Wee are just now about meeting M'' Hubbard and 3 more of Ipswich 
to sell your sons Castle Hill to them, but you would wonder to see their 
dodging. If they have it they must pay for it in some measure, else it 
would be more honorable for him to give it.' 



O' 



To the realization that the future maintenance of a growing 
family must henceforth depend chiefly upon his own exertions is 
doubtless attributable the great activity displayed by him during 
the next ten years, during which the Colony passed through a 
period of much financial depression. How long he made Salem 
hia headquarters is as uncertain as when he left Ipswich. His 
daughter Lucy was born in Boston Jan. 28, 16|§, and he attended 
six Courts there at intervals in 1640 ; but that he was still inti- 
mately connected with Essex county would appear from his 
appointment to two local commissions, one to determine the 
bounds of Jeffryes Creek, now Manchester, the other to settle 
the bounds between Ipswich, Jeffryes Creek, and Cape Ann.^ 
His familiarity with the Connecticut coast led him to avail him- 
self of a favorable moment in the autumn of 1640 to obtain from 
Massachusetts a grant (subsequently confirmed by both Connecti- 
cut and New York) of Fisher's Island, one of the gems of Long 
Island Sound, though he was unable to improve it until some 
years later. Besides the manufacture of salt, the development 
of the mineral resources of New England naturally suggested 
itself to a man of his scientific tastes, and he conceived a plan 

1 Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 4, vol. vi. p. 104. 

2 Records of Massachusetts, vol. i. p. 289, 304. 



30 SKETCH OF 

by which London merchants should be induced to invest money 
in the erection of iron works. He attended Courts in Boston in 
the sprmg of 1641, and there is a fragment of a letter to him 
from Emmanuel Downing, dated Salem, July 29, 1641, in which 
occurs the torn passage : — 

or hinder your sale with them as the case stands. My sonne is not 
yet retorned from Ipswich whom I expect evrie howre and soe have done 
these 3 dayes. If you goe for England before yt be done, yet I will if 
God permitt pui-sue yt to tli« utmost, and send per the next sliippe, 
that you may receive your monie of his ffather.^ 

Five days later, Aug. 3, 1641, Winthrop sailed, his errand 
being to exert personal influence with friends in England in aid 
of his various enterprises. The undertaking proved a difficult 
one and though a company was ultimately formed and stock sub- 
scribed for, yet he was away two years and a quarter, including 
two exceptionally long passages. Of the numerous letters which 
he must have written to his family during this period but a single 
one is known to exist, dated Bristol, Oct. 6, 1641, and addressed 
to his wife at " Tenhills," Governor Winthrop's well-kno^\^l 
farm, between Charlestown and Medford. It shows that it 
took him a fortnight to reach Newfoundland, where he waited 
three weeks for conveyance to England, finally arriving there 
twenty days later after a stormy voyage in a vessel of sixty tons. 
He alludes to having sent previous letters, says he shall write 
more fully to his father, and concludes : — 

I pray bo carcfull of your journies to Cambridge or elsewliere, and 
remember what I desired you, to stay w'" the childi'en one part of the 
day your selfe. Let Betty learnc to read by any meanes, but keepe her 
not too close to it. Farewell, my deare wife : it is midniglit and time 
to sleepe.^ 

There is a tradition that Mrs. Winthrop resided more or less 
in Ipswich during this protracted absence of her husband, and 

> Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 4, vol. vi. p. 59. This ap- 
parently refers to some sale at Ipswich in which Downing was acting for his nephew. 
' IhiJ., Scries 0, vol. viii. pp. 35-30. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 31 

in that case she was probably the guest of her sister Sjononds; 
but there can be little doubt that her headquarters were at Ten- 
hills, where she undoubtedly was long after Winthrop sailed, and 
where she would appear to have been when her second son was 
born (Feb. 27, 164|^), he having been baptized in Boston. More- 
over, the following passage in a letter from Margaret Winthrop 
to her stepson, dated Boston, Oct. 10, 1642, seems to show that 
the two families lived within easy distance of one another. After 
thanking him for " a box with some aparel " which he had sent 
her from England, she adds : — 

Your wife thinkes long for your cominge, yet it pleseth God to 
helpe hir to beare it prety cherfully ; hir little boy is so mery that it 
puteth away many a sad thought from his mother.^ 



That his time abroad was not wholly devoted to his own 
affairs is evidenced by the following document : — 

To the Honored Generall Court at Boston, the humble petition of John Win- 
throp Jun''. 

Whereas when I was last in England, at the returne of M' Gibbins, 
I was importunately desired by M' Weld & M' Peters, your agents, to 
assist them there in their constant agitations for this plantation, w"" 
many pressing arguments w'^'' I could not w'^'stand, & theire promise of 
due & full satisfaction for ray charges there, — and whereas, after 
above an whole yeares imployment, wherin I used my best indeavoiu" 
to assist them in all their negotiations for the good of this Colonye, 
w"" many expensive travailes therin, I was appointed to receive fifty 
pounds at my arrivall in this country, out of those monies w""" were to 
be received for the children & other sumes of monye procured by us for 
the Countrye, w"*" I have hitherto only mentioned to this honored Court, 
expecting the returne of M' Peters or M"' Weld every yeare, & respecting 
the many occations of the Country in other ingagements ; — and wheras 
I paid fifty pounds in London to one M' Vincent, at the earnest request 
of M' Weld & M' Peters, w'"" was owing by them for linnin cloth sent 

1 Life and Letters of John Winthrop, vol. ii. p. 304. 



32 SKETCH OF 

over hither, & no other meanes to be found there for the satisfying of 
the said M^ Vincent, who continually urged them for the said monye, 
and whereas I have by the appointment of this honored Court received 
only one of these fifty pounds in such payment as the Country could 
make, not monye or any thing that I could returne into England, w'"" 
was much prejudice to me as I can make to appeare : — my humble request 
is that, seing my bill is eyther lost or left in the Courts hands, & now 
not to be found, this honored Court will please eyther to allow in the 
Treasurers hand that other fifty pounds upon my oath that it is justly 
due to me, or to order the forbearance thereof by the Treasurer till I can 
receive restitution from M' Peters, I standing ingaged to the Treasurer 
for a debt due to the Country. 

John Wijithkop. 

The Magistrates couceave this petition to be reasonable, and if the 
Deputies will allow the petitioner tliG 50" unj^aid upon his oath, or order 
the forbearance thereof in his hands Untill a new certificate be procured, 
the Magistrates will assent to what they shall make choice of therein. 

Thojias Dudley, Dep. Gov'. 

The accompts as yet not cleared & y* engagments remayning, the 
Deput^ conceave it meet till they heare more not to consent to either of 
the [<or?i] 

Edward Rawson.^ 

It was not until the latter part of May, 1643, that he was 
able to embark at Gravesend, with skilled workmen and 
machinery, upon a voyage which proved disastrous. Detained 
" many dales " at the outset by Custom-house formalities, they 
lost a favorable wind, hovered on the English coast for more than 
six weeks, and did not reach Boston till autumn, after a passage 
of almost unexampled duration, — the result being that the work- 
men, unaccustomed to the sea and prostrated by midsummer 

' Printed from the original in the impublislicd Winlhrop Papers. The missing 
part of Secretary Rawson's ineniorainhim probably contained a date. Winthrop had 
made himself responsible for a fine imposed by the General Court in 1646 upon his 
friend Dr. Robert Child, and claimed the advance to Weld and Pet«r as a set-off. The 
matter was not settled till October, 1651, when the Court voted tliat " Mr John Win- 
throp beinge debter forty pound to the country for Docto' Childs fino, hath the sd 
forty pound given him in consiilcration of service done for this country in England." 
Records of Mass. vol. iii. p. 250. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 33 

heat in close quarters, were so weakened by fevers as to be 
utterly unfit for duty when they landed.* 

Governor Winthrop's embarrassments had resulted in his 
removal to a smaller house in Boston and the sale of a consider- 
able part of the Tenhills estate, but he was able to welcome his 
son's return by the following conveyance in his own hand : — 

This present writinge testifieth that I, Jo : Winthrop, of Boston in 

New England, Esqf, for & in consideration & satysfaction of one hundr* 

& fiftye pounds, parte of a greater sume due from me to Jo : Winthrop 

my eldest sonne, have given, granted, bargained & sould unto the said 

John my sonne all that my farme or pcell of land lyinge upon Concorde 

River about three miles beneath the towne, conteininge twelve hundr* 

acres, w"** was granted me by the Gen" Coiu-t in 3 mo : 1638, & also one 

pcell of medowe adjoyninge, conteininge about sixtye acres more or 

lesse, granted to me also by the Court in 1639 ; — and allso all that 

pcell or necke of land now inclosed, pte of my farme in Chariest" calP 

Tenhills, l3dng over ag' the Oyster-banck conteyninge about thirtye 

acres more or lesse, to have & to hould all the sd lands & premises w*" 

their app'tenn'ces unto the sd Jo. Winthrop my sonne & Eliz: his 

wife during their lives, the remainder to Fitz-John their eldest sonne & 

his heires for ever : provided allwayes & reserved out of this present 

grant unto me the sd Jo : Winthrop & Marg' my wife, for the terme of 

o' lives & the longer liver of us, one third pte of all suche fruit as 

shalbe yearly growinge upon the sd necke of land. In wittnesse of the 

pmises I have herunto sett my hand & scale dated the 22 : of 7*"' 1648. 

Jo: WiNTHKOP.' 
Seal'^ & delivered in the 

psence of 

Jo: Endecott, Dep. GovF 
Tho: Fowle. 

In the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society 
for October, 1892, is to be found a paper prepared by Win- 
throp, headed " Considerations concerning Ironworks," describ- 
ing a careful search made by him through what was then known 

1 Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 5, vol. viii. pp. 36-37. 
^ Unpublished Winthrop Papers. An abstract is to be found in Suffolk Deeds, 
Lib. T : 4n. 

3 



34 SKETCH OF 

of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, for the best 
place to establish this industry, and giving his reasons for 
preferring Braintree, where early in 1644 he and his partners 
received from the Massachusetts General Court a grant of three 
thousand acres " for the encouragement of an iron-worke to be set 
up about Monatacot River," and in May of the same year he had 
leave to make a plantation in the Pequot country for a similar 
purpose.' 

In the following September a third daughter, Mary, was bom 
to him in Boston, and a few weeks later he was granted " )'* hill 
at Tantousq, about 60 miles westward, in which the black lead is, 
with liberty to purchase some land there of the Indians," ^ a per- 
mission which resulted in his acquiring a tract ten miles square 
in and near what is now Sturbridge. The Indian deeds of this 
purchase, therein styled " Tantiusques," are still in existence, 
together with several agreements made by him with other parties 
for mining black lead upon it, the earliest in 1644, the latest 
in 1658.3 

On the first of January, 1645, he conveyed his Castle Hill 
farm to his brother-in-law Symonds, his Ipswich house-lot and 
land by the river having probably been parted with a good while 
before, though, as already stated, it has not thus far been ascer- 
tained precisely when these sales occurred, which is perhaps due 
to the carelessness in registering land-titles which prevailed at 
that period and long afterward. On the 14th of May, 1645, he 
attended a Court in Boston, but nuist soon after have left for 
Pequot, as Roger Williams addressed him there on the 22d of 
June, and a letter from Rev. Thomas Peter describes the arrival 
of Winthrop and himself in the fort of Uncas just after a bloody 
battle between the Mohegans and the Narragansetts.* That 

' Records of Massaclnisetts, vol. ii. p. 71. " Ihul., vol. ii. p. 82. 

* One of the signers of the last-named agreement was William Paine, some time 
of I]is\vioh and afterward of Hoston, several lottors from whom on this subject will 
be found in Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 4, vol. vii. 

* Winthrop's History of New England, Savage's edition of 1853, vol. ii. p. 463. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 35 

he was back in Boston before the close of the summer seems 
certain from a letter there addressed to him by Symonds, who 
writes (without date, but clearly in that year) : — 

I am sorry you can not come to Ipswich at this tyme, nor that I 
have oportunity to see you at the Bay, by reason of our harvest. I could 
wish that Uncas may be kept a frend still to the English, yet soe that 
he be not suffered to insulte or wronge other Indians. ... If you 
intende to settle at your new plantation, in case it be agreed on all 
hands that that place shall belonge to the government of Connecticott & 
not to the Bay, I would not have you strive about it, but joyne with 
them in the worke of God as one of them, and hereby you may be a 
meanes to reconcile the Indians amonge themselves.* 

In the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society 
for 1892, already cited, is an interesting fragment of a diary, 
mostly in Latin, in which Winthrop recounts a journey made 
by him from Boston to Saybrook and back, in November and 
December, 1645. He started by way of Sudbury and Brookfield, 
intending to visit his mine at Tantiusques, but missing the Indian 
trail in a snow-storm he brought up at Springfield, going thence 
to Hartford by land and so to Saybrook, the Connecticut River 
being choked with ice. From Saybrook he journeyed by the fort 
of the Niantick Indians to Nameag, where under date of Nov. 26 
he writes : — 

Tota ista die circa terram transivimus querendo loco comodo pro 
colonia. (We spent the whole day in searching for the most conve- 
nient site for a settlement.) 

It is clear from this entry that the precise situation of what is 
now New London had not till then been determined, though some 
few settlers are stated to have been on the ground in the preced- 
ing summer. His return to Boston was made via Wickford, 
Patuxet, Providence, Seekonk, and Braintree. During the whole 
trip he stayed in the houses of many well-known persons, and he 

1 Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 4, vol. vii. p. 122. 



36 SKETCH OF 

gives a graphic account of a furious gale and shipwreck at the 
mouth of the Connecticut. 

The rest of the winter of 1645-46 he was presumably in or 
near Boston. He had recovered from his father's creditors the 
alienated portion of Tenhills, and apparently realizing that 
his life was more than ever one of exposure and peril, and 
that the various commercial undertakings in which he was 
engaged might not be successful, he endeavored to make some 
permanent provision for his family, in case of accidents, by the 
following deed of trust : — 

This present writeing witnesseth that I, John Winthrop the 
younger, of Charlestowne in Middlesex in New England, beinge care- 
full of Elizabeth my loveinge wife & such children as God hath given 
mee by her, that some provision of maintenance may be had for them 
after my decease, have given, granted, infeoffed & confirmed, & I doe 
hereby give, grant, infeoffe & confirme, unto my trustie & beloved 
frends M' Josej)h Cooke of Cambridge in the county aforesaid, 
M^ Nathaniell Sparhawke & John Bridge of the same, all that my 
Ferme in Charlestowne aforesaid called Tenhills, wth the appurte- 
nances, & all the lands, meadowes, marishes, woods, swampes, to the 
same belonging or therewith used & occupied, conteining by estimation 
between six & seven hundred acres, be it more or lesse, together w*** 
my right of Comon to the same belonging, & my part in the meere upon 
Mistick river, — to have & to hould to the said Joseph, Nathaniell & 
John, & theire heires, uppon speciall trust & confidence, as is liereafter 
expressed, viz': to the use & behoofe of me & my said wife & the 
longer liver of us, w'^out impeachment of wast, & after o' decease to the 
use of Fitz John o' eldest sonne & his heires for ever. Provided 
alwayes that one third part of the rent now received uppon a lease 
thereof made by mee to Major Robert Sedgwick & otliers for ccrtaine 
yeares yet to come, & of all & every lease or other cleare improvement 
thereof hereafter to be made, shalbe & be duly paid to my honoured 
father & Marjjaret his wife during: theire lives & tlie lonjrer liver of 
them. Provided also that the said Ferme & premisses shalbe still lyablo 
to the satisfaction of such of the creditors of my said father as are not yet 
satisfyed or agreed w'" for any tlieire just debts. Provided also tliat of 
the cleare rent or revcnew w'*" shall remaine after the said debts be 
satisfyed, & the said third part for my father & mother deducted, one 
third j)art shall go towards the education of mj' yoriger children untill 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 37 

they & every one of them shall respectively attaine the full age of 
fifteene yeeres, or be disposed of otherwise to be kept w"'out charge to 
theire mother. Lastly it is provided that it shalbe in my power either 
by my last will, or other wise dureing my life, to charge the said Ferme 
& premisses w'" the pajonent of one hundred pounds to any of my 
yonger children, to be payd at such time & in such manner as I shall 
by such will or other writeing appoint. 

John Wikthrop.i 
Sealed and (13 in the 
psence of 

Em: Downingb. 

Adam Winthrop. 

He was present at a Court in Boston in May, 1646, but went 
soon after to Pequot, where the new plantation was now vigor- 
ously taken in hand. His house in New London was not ready 
for occupancy until the following spring, but he had already 
caused one to be built on Fisher's Island, to which in the early 
autumn of 1646 he removed a portion of his family, returning to 
Boston for this purpose. There went back with him to Con- 
necticut his wife, his elder son, by tradition an infant daughter 
Margaret, and his brother Deane, who all passed the winter on 
the island, his four other children remaining under the care of 
their grandparents.^ His father's first letter to him in this new 
home was dated Oct. 28, 1646, and addressed, " To my very good 
son M"' John Winthrop, at Fisher's Island n' Pequod River," and 
in it the Governor wrote, among other things : — 

I send you herein your letters, which I thought best to open. 
Your brother Stephen, it seems, means to stay in England and hath sent 
for his wife. He is Captain of a troop of horse. We are all as you 
left us, I praise God, & we all salute you and yours. The blessing of 
the Lord be upon you, and he protect and guide you in this great 
undertaking ! ^ 

» Printed from the original in the unpublished Winthrop Papers. It does not 
appear to have been registered and there is no date; but it waa undoubtedly executed 
at or about the time named. 

' See Caulkins's History of New London, chap. ii. 

8 Life and Letters of John Winthrop, vol. ii. p. 355. 



38 SKETCH OF 



VI 

On the 14th of June, 1647, there befell him one of the 
greatest sorrows of his life in the sudden death of his step- 
mother, between whom and himself there had always existed the 
deepest attachment, and who was as devoted to his children as 
he had ever been to hers. He is recorded to have been in attend- 
ance at meetings of the Commissioners of the United Colonies 
held in Boston in the following July and August, when it was 
finally decided that the Pequot country should belong perma- 
nently to Connecticut, and in September he was commissioned by 
the latter government to be a magistrate there, though he still 
retained his Massachusetts functions. These dual responsibilities 
cost him many journeys. Letters from Roger Williams place him 
at Pequot at different times in September, October, and November 
of that year, while one from Samuel Symonds, dated Oct. 6, 1G47, 
shows him to have been recently in Boston. A dispute concern- 
ing a boundary-line, between Symonds and one of his neighbors, 
had brought on a lawsuit involving an unsuccessful attempt to 
upset the title to Castle Hill farm, and this letter of Symonds 
possesses so much local interest that it is here given in full, 
though some of its allusions are obscure. 

To the right Worshipfull John Winthrop Esrf, Oovemour, present., Boston.'^ 

Good Brother, — I p'sume j'ou doe heare what is the yssue of the 
triall of the title of CastcU-Hill ; but had not the castle beene grounded 
upon records & full testiiiinny by the then Recorder, it luiglit have bene 
.shaken, as it wanted noc battering to doe it. There came in such a 
testimony »fc pleadings (as I doe assure my selfe) you never dreamed 
of. The case was debated in Court on Tewsday after noone & the 

1 Tlie following postscript ex]ilains this superscription : " Sir, this I havo 
written to my hrofhor your roihio, hut foarinjj he may be gone, I tliought good to 
direct it to yourselfo, desiring you wilbe pleased to convey it when you write to 
him." 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 39 

fore-noone the next day. The second grant was that which was 
endeavoured to have bene made voyde, & the first difficultly 
obtained. 

It was urged that you were denied a vote all the form' p' of the day, 
albeit your writing & the thinge it selfe speaks that the land was not 
now the Townes to give, but y' you yielded to part w'" the greatest 
p' of the Neck to them. There were (as I rememb') 4 that did testifie 
concerning the number of the freemen &c p'sent, all variously from 
each other, when they did deliv' their testimony viva voce. One, before 
he was sworne, said it was done an houre «Ssc within night, by candle 
light, but did not deliv' it soe upon oath ; 2, that it was very late, but 
not by candle light. You & I are noe witnesses in this case : we know 
it was in the after noone, & the Record agreeth with us, an other act 
being done at same tyme which must require a little debate before it 
was written, which was yoiu: grant of 300 acres, which is well 
approved of.' 

But I did know it would require some skill to make one act of the 
same meeting after the other good & the form' null ; soe it was said 
that your said farme was given before, only the quantity appoynted 
now, — which (though tyme must be given to believe) yet they con- 
fesse enough to make the meeting valid in determinyng the numb' of 
acres. Alsoe to confirme this & nuUifie the other, it was tendered to 
be testified that this farme, p' of it you had plowed before this grant. 
Tis nine yeares since the grant, Aug : 6'? last.^ I suppose you may call 
to minde who did plow it & when. Though it makes nothing to the 
case, yet I would willingly let them see their mistaks. It was testified 
that the meeting was called for an other purpose, but next day when 
they brought in their testimonies in writing, one of the Jury minded 
them that this meeting (as before did appeare) was called or warned by 
the man that did use to warne the meetings. 

It was alsoe said that this last grant was voted in the meeting howse 
at that tyme mentioned in the record indeed, but it was written in an 
other howse & at an other tyme ; & this is a thing alsoe (I suppose) 
you never dreamt of. Whereas, besides our knowledg & p'sence at the 
doeing of it, res ipsa loquitur, — for in grants where there must be de- 
scribing of bounds soe & soe, limittacon hither &c, & a line soe, it vrill 

1 The 300 acres not in dispute would seem to have been the Argilla farm granted 
to Winthrop in 1634 or earlier, and sold by him to Symonds in 1637. 

^ For the discrepancies in the dates assigned to the grant of Castle Hill, the 
probability that there was more than one grant, and the disappearance of Winthrop's 
letter to his father on the subject, see ante, p. 24. 



40 SKETCH OF 

require to be written before it be voted, according to reason & usuall 
practice. M' Bartholmew was a cleare & full witnesse, agreeing w'? 
the Recorde. There was noe necessity of any, I summoned none. I 
did expect him & he did well to be p'sent.' 

Concerning the pojTit in law touching the p'sedent order or grant 
of this land to the Towne by the freemen, this did not hold longe debate 
in the Court. '^ 

Their last plea, to save the accon & charges at least, was that I 
have not sett the fence right; soe there are three Comissioners ap- 
poynted to vew it. If they be found to have broken the fence upon 
my ground, then I am to have 31i damages. 

After all the rest was pleaded &c, poynt of Chancery or equity was 
pleaded, the argument whereof I suppose is generally knowne to bo 
upon a grosse mistake. It was to this effect, that you left the Towne 
when M' Ward was leaving his place, the Church settling our p'sent 
officers, &, the Church ready to crack. How longe these things were 
done before, you know better than I, but sure I am I was a memb' of 
the Church first by our p'sent elders in office, &c &c.^ 

An other thinge was on the second day testified, I having touched 
the strangnes of averring against a Record, & not soe much as a p'es- 
tacon against it at that tyme made. The next day one of them remem- 
bered upon his oath there was a p'estacon. I know not whether he well 
understands what it is, but had there beine one, yet if not recorded, what 
would it effect to p'vent any purchasscr from deceiving himselfe, build- 
ing upon the Record for the Grant & finding nothing to question the 
same ? 

Forasmuch as I was p'sent, — & there is JP B : liis oath to the 
recorder for a full consent, for ought appeared to him, & by their owne 
confession by the major part it was done, — this seomcs very strange, 
save that the space of tyme since doth help to make the most charit^iblo 
interpreticon &c. A p'estacon doth not overthrow an act, noe more 
than when 2 or three doe enter their dissent upon an act of Court it 
dotli render the matter more doubtf ull &c. 

' William Bartholomew first camo to Ipswich in 1635, and subsequently held 
inijKirtant posts in the town. 

' It is recorded under date of Doc. 29, 1G31, "that the Necke of Land whereupon 
the great Hill standeth, w* is known by the name of the Castle Hill, lyeinge on the 
other side of the River towards the sea, shall rem.ayne unto the comon use of the 
Towne forever." 

' Rev. Nathaniel Rogers, successor to Rev. Nathaniel Ward, was ordained pastor 
of the Church at Ip.swich, Feb. 20, 1638. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 41 

Urgent occasions doe call me off. I pray God send you a pr'p'ous 
journey. Our love to you, my sister, & all my cosens. I rest 

Your ever loving brother, 
October 6th. 47. Samuel Symonds.* 

Winthrop would seem to have just started for Pequot when 
this letter reached Boston, but that he was back again within five 
months is shown by a later letter from Ipswich, Feb. 24, 1648, 
in which Symonds writes : — 

Having this opportunity, I thought good to let you understand 
God's providence towards us. My daughter Epps, upon the 22th of this 
instant was delivered of a sonne, & thanks be to God, both mother & 
Sonne are comfortably well. We would gladly know what day you will 
agree upon to bring my sister, that accordingly we may send you a horse 
to the water side. My wife hath bene better in respect of the paine in 
her stomack, this weeke then formerly. Good wine (as you say) is the 
best cordiall for her. 

The handwriting of this letter is unusually distinct and it is 
addressed " To his very loving brother, John Winthrop of Salem, 
Esq, this, Salem." In styling him at this late day " of Salem," 
when apparently on a visit to his uncle Downing, Symonds was 
perhaps only playful; but it is possible that the Ryall-side salt 
work was still running, as a few weeks later the Massachusetts 
General Court agreed with Winthrop on a price to be paid for 
the delivery of " good white salt at Boston, Charlestown, Salem, 
Ipswich, & Salsberry," besides giving him liberty to erect salt 
works in any place or places not hitherto appropriated. In 
May of the same year he was granted " 3000 acres of the 

1 Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 4, vol. vii. pp. 123-126. In 
the old Judicial Records preserved at Salem is the following entry relative to this 
action : — 

" Ipswich Quar. Sessions Ct. 28. 7. 1647 M' Sam' Symonds PI. ag« William 
Story & John Dane in an action of trespasse for breaking downe his fence to his great 
damage : 

They fjTid for M' Symonds & his title to the land, according to the records, to be 
good. 2'', if the fence stand upon his ground, they alow him 3" damage & the re- 
payring of the fence as it was — to be issued by Comission, the Comissionera Rich- 
ard Knight, Henry Shorte of Newbury and Edward Carlton of Rowlyc." 



42 SKETCH OF 

Pequot land, at Paquatuck, neere to the Narraganset country, 
provided that if he set not up a considerable salt worke be- 
tween the two capes of Massachusetts Bay w^'in three yeares 
now next coming, then this graunt to be voyde." On the 13th 
of June Downing wrote him at Pequot : — 

I hope you are soe well setled in your occasions as to begyn to think 
now of visiting your friends in the Bay. The merchants at Salem are 
sory you accepted not thcire propositions for the making of salt. . . . 
I hope you will not loose tyme in erecting a salt worke at Pequoyt, you 
neede not feare vent here for it.^ 

He must have paid a short visit to the Bay just then, as on 
the 3d of July his father alludes to the joyful news of his safe 
return to Nameag, where in the following month his daughter 
Martha was born. That he was again expected in Boston in the 
early autumn is shown by a letter to him from his father, dated 
" 30 (7) 48," in which the Governor, after describing a visit he 
had paid to Ipswich, adds, " We have looked for you long," but it 
was the will of God that father and son should never meet again. 
The latter was detained in the Pequot country by negotiations 
with the Indians, and was unexpectedly prevented from starting 
later as shown by the following extracts from letters of his fre- 
quent correspondent at Narragansett, Roger Williams : — 

I am glad for your sake that it hath pleased God to prevent your 
winter travel ; though I gladly, also, this last week expected your pas- 
sage, and being at Providence hastened purposely to attend you here. . . . 
Youre letters I speedily despatched by a messenger on purpose. . . . Our 
neighbors, the barbarians, run up and down and consult, partly ready to 
fall upon the Mohegans at your word, and a world of foolish agitations 
I could trouble you with ; but I tould the chiefest yesterday that it is not 
our manner to be rash, and that you will be silent till youre father and 
other ancient Sachems speak first.^ 

On the 14th of March, 1G49, his brother Adam wrote: — 

We have not heard from you since we heard by Providence Indian, 
but liopo you are in healtli. I am sorry I can not write so to you of 

' M.as8achusett8 Historical Society's Collections, Series 4, vol. vi. p. 08. 
» Ibid., Series 3, vol. ix. i>. 280. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 43 

ourselves, for my father indeed is very ill & has bene so above a month. 
The Lord only knows the event. We should be very glad if you could 
be heer. My father not being able to wright himself desired me to 
remember his love to you, my sister, & the children, & although he 
hopes God will raise him up againe, yet he would request you, as if it 
were his last request, that you wold strive no more about the Pequod 
Indians, but leave them to the Commissioners order.' 

This letter was delayed in reaching Winthrop, and on the 
26 th an Indian messenger started from Boston with the intelli- 
gence of his father's death, the funeral being postponed until his 
arrival eight days later. It was a most unexpected bereavement, 
for the Governor was only in his sixty-second year and vigorous 
up to this last illness. One result of it was his son's final decision 
to cast in his lot with Connecticut, though his friend, George 
Baxter, English Secretary to the Dutch Governor and Council, 
strongly urged him to plant a settlement at the Manhattan end 
of Long Island, adding : — 

I have often tymes heard o' Governour [Peter Stujrvesant] saye you 
should be acceptablie welcome unto him ; & for matter of privilidge or 
accommodation, for your selfe or any others that shall come along with 
you, you shall have them soe large and ample as hee hath power to 
give .2 

At the close of 1649 he accordingly gave notice that, at the 
expiration of his term in May, 1650, he must decline to be 
re-elected to the Court of Assistants of the Massachusetts Colony, 
a post he had then held eighteen years. This change of domicile 
is distinctly marked by the formal letter of recommendation of 
himself and wife from the First Church of Boston to the Church 
at Saybrook, dated July 23, 1650, and signed by John Cotton, 
John Wilson, and Thomas Oliver.^ Although he retained 
property in Massachusetts and made visits thither as occasion 

1 Life and Letters of John Winthrop, vol. ii. pp. 391-2. 
^ Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 5, vol. i. p. 370. 
* Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Series 2, vol. iii. p. 200. 
There was no Church at New London till a little later. 



44 SKETCH OF 

offered, yet for the remaining twenty-sis years of his life he was 
a Connecticut man, and his career there is so interwoven with the 
political history of the sister Colony that it would be foreign to 
the purpose of this Sketch to describe it in detail, though an 
outline of it may be convenient for reference. 



VII 

Elected an Assistant of Connecticut in May, 1651, Winthrop 
forthwith procured from the General Assembly the passage of the 
following vote : — 

Whereas in this rocky country, among these mountains and rocky 
hills, there are probabilities of mines of metals, the discover}- of which 
may he of great advantage to the countr}' in raising a staple commodity ; 
and whereas John Winthrop, Esquire, doth intend to be at charges and 
adventure for the search and discovery of such mines and minerals : — 
for the encouragement thereof, and of any that shall adventure with the 
said John Winthrop, Esquire, in the said business, it is therefore ordered 
by the Court that if the said John Winthrop, Esquire, shall discover, 
set upon and maintain such mines of lead, copper or tin, or any min- 
erals, as antimony, vitriol, black lead, allum, stone salt, salt springs, or 
any other the like, within this jurisiUction, and shall set up any work 
for the digging, washing and melting, or any other operation about the 
said mines or minerals, as the nature thereof requireth, — that tlien the 
said John Winthrop, Esquire, his heirs, associates, partners or assigns, 
shall enjoy forever said mines, with the lands, wood, timber and water 
within two or three miles of said mines, for the necessary carrying on 
of the works and maintaining of the workmen, and provision of coal for 
the same : — provided it be not within the bounds of any town already 
settled, or any particular person's property ; and provided it be not in, 
or bordering upon, any place that shall, or may be, by the Court so 
judged fit to make a plantiition of.' 

In the following year the sudden death in Boston of his 
brother Adam, at tlie early age of thirty-two, was a fresh domestic 
sorrow ; and about this time Hugh Peter wrote from London, 

' Trumbull's History of Connecticut, vol. i. p. 195. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 45 

pointing out the rapid military advancement of Stephen Winthrop 
and George Do^v^ling, and offering to place at his step-son-in-law's 
disposal the parliamentary influence he had now acquired, if the 
latter should be willing to put himself in the way of employ- 
ment in England/ — an offer wisely declined, we may fairly con- 
sider, as eight years later Peter lost his head on the scaffold. 
Somewhat similar overtures were made not long afterward by 
Winthrop' 3 particular friend and correspondent, the celebrated 
Sir Kenelm Digby, who wrote to him from London, Jan. 
31, 165|: — 

I hope it will not be long before this Hand, y' native country, do 
enjoy y' much desired presence. I pray for it hartily, and I am con- 
fident that y' great judgem', and noble desire of doing the most good 
to mankinde that you may, will prompt you to make as much hast 
hither as you can. Where you are, is too scanty a stage for you to 
remaine too long upon. It was a well chosen one when there were 
inconveniences for y' fixing upon this. But now that all is here as you 
could wish, all that do know you do expect of you that you should exer- 
cise your vertues where they may be of most advantage to the world, 
and where you may do most good to most men.^ 

A year later, Jan. 26, 165|, Sir Kenelm wrote from Paris : — 

Y' most welcome letter of the 4. 1^" last, was sent me by M' Peters 
the same day I went out of London to come to this towne : w"'' made 
me lament the lesse the necessity of those affaires that call me hither for 
a little while ; since I learne by it that you are not as yet minded to 
make our country happy w"* y' presence. I pray God you may so alter 
y' resolutions that by the return of the shippes I may meete you att 
London. For I can not subscribe to y' reasons, — the maine of w"''' is, 
res angusta domi to a numerous family. For wheresoever you are, I am 
sure you can not want.' 

1 Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 4, vol. vi. pp. 113, 114. 

2 Ibid., Series 3, vol. x. pp. 5-6. 

* Ibid, p. 15. A reasonable inference would be that, so far as Winthrop's per- 
sonal inclinations were concerned, he would have liked to rejoin his scientific friends, 
but that he felt bound to accumulate an independence for liis children, and considered 
that his best chance of so doing was to remain in New England. 



46 SKETCH OF 

Educational facilities were then meagre in New London, and 
in the winter of 1654-5 both his sons were sent to Cambridge to 
study. There has been preserved a single letter to them from 
their father at this time, which is here given, as it affords a good 
idea of his domestic correspondence. 

To my beloved Sonn Fitz-John Wmthrop at Cambridge. 

FiTZ, — You wrote by your last letter w*** I received of some ilnesse 
that you were troubled w'^ w* we were sorry to heare of, but it was so 
neere winter that I could not goe or send to you ; but since was 
informed by Arthur Mason (who put in heere as he passed to Virginia) 
that you were againe in good health, for w*"* let the Lord have praise in 
whose hands is our life and breath ; sicknesse and health are wholy in 
his power. 

I pceive by your letter that you were much possessed w**" the feare 
of Death. You must be carefull that Sathan does not delude you. It 
is good to be alwaies mindfull and prepared for deatli, but take heede of 
distrusting, perplexed thoughts about it, for that will encrease the sick- 
nesse. Trust him w"' your life that gave you life and being, and hath 
only power over death and life, to whom we must be wiUing to submit 
to be at tlie disposing of his good will and pleasure. Whether in life 
or death learne to know God and to serve him, and to feare him and 
walke in his waies ; and leave your selfe w"" him and cast your care on 
him who careth for all liis servants and will not forsake tlioso y' trust 
in his name. In siclcnesse use those meanes that you can have ; and 
coinitt your selfe for the successe to the Lord. 

Tliis oportunity is but very suddainc by one that passed through 

the towne, therfore I have scarce tyme to write, and shall not have 

tymo to write to mj'^ cousin Dudly ; therfore remeber my love to liim 

and my cousin Cooke, and our friends w'" whom you sojourne.* We 

are all in good health, God be praised. Your mother, sisters, and aunt, 

remeber their love to you and your brother. I desire the Lord to blesse 

you both, and rest 

Your loving fatlier, 

Feb. 8. 1654 [1655]. Jqun Winthrop.^ 

Desire M' Gold at Tenliills to take care that the ratts doe no hurt. 

1 The elder boy was being crammed for Harvard by hia cousin Thom.is Dudley, 
then a tutor in that College ; while the younger was instructed by Elijah Corlet, 
the well-known master of Cambridge (iramniar-ScIiool. Massachusetts Historical 
Society's Collections, Series 0, vol. iii. jip. 421-4-0 

" Ibid., Series 5, vol. viii. pp. 43-11. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 47 

In early life Winthrop had manifested much interest in 
chemistry and medicine. Ever since, in leisure hours, he had 
been a diligent reader of chemical and medical works, experi- 
menting with different drugs and inventing a mysterious prepa- 
ration called rubila, which gradually became famous all over 
New England as efficacious in a variety of ailments. The 
scarcity of physicians in the Colonies and his willingness to 
give advice free of charge, — so far as his studies enabled him 
to do so, — caused him to be much consulted, and among those 
who derived benefit from his treatment in 1653 were sev- 
eral prominent persons in New Haven and, in particular, the 
family of Rev. John Davenport. The result was that, in October 
1654, The Church and Town of New Haven, the General Court 
of that Colony and Theophilus Eaton, then Governor, united in a 
formal invitation to Winthrop to take up his abode among them 
for a large part of each year, offering to provide him with a 
house and other conveniences.' This invitation coincided with a 
plan he had formed for erecting iron-works in that neighborhood, 
but in order to preserve his independence he preferred to buy a 
house for £100, paying for it in goats raised by himself on 
Fisher's Island.^ It was not, however, till nearly the close of 
1655 that he found it convenient to move, not long before 
which Davenport had written : — 

To his Honoured freind John Winthrop, Esq", these present, 

in Pequot, 

Hon'' Sir, — We did earnestly expect your coming hither, with M" 
Winthrop and your familie, the last light moone, according to your pur- 
pose signified to us, — having also intelligence that a vessel wayted 
upon you at Pequot for that end, and were thereby encouraged to provide 
your house that it might be fitted, in some measure, for your comfortable 
dwelling in it this winter. 

My wife was not wanting in her endeavours to set all wheeles on 
going, — all hands that she could procure, on worke, — that you might 

1 See (Jovernor Eaton's letters to Winthrop on this subject, in Massachusetts 
Historical Society's Collections, Series 4, vol. vii. 

2 Atwater's History of the Colony of New Haven, p. 369. 



48 SKETCH OF 

finde all things to your satisfaction. Though she could not accomplish 
her desires to the full, yet she proceeded as farr as she could ; whereby 
many things are done, viz. : the house made warm, the well cleansed, 
the pumpe fitted for your use. Some provision of wood is layed in and 
20 loades will be ready whensoever you come ; and sundry who have 
received helpe from you have, by my wife's instigation, prepared 30 
bush, of wheate for the present, and Sister Glover hath 12 Ih of candles 
ready for you. My wife hath also procured a maid-servant for you, who 
is reported to be cleanly and saving ; her mother is of the Church, and 
she is kept from a place in Connectacut (where she was much desired) 
to serve you. 

At last Joseph Alsop arrived here in safety on the Lord's day, and in 
the Assembly gave thanks for his comfortable passage. By him I 
received (instead of yourselfe and yours, whose presence was heartily 
desired by us all) a letter from you, dated on the day before his arrivall, 
whereby I understood that some providences intercurring liindred and 
disappointed your reall intentions of coming with your family to us, 
both before, and by him. The hazzard and danger suspected, you now 
see, was more in ungrounded imaginations of those who laboured to 
hinder your proceeding, than in the reality and trueth of the cause 
praetended by them. Yet we have hope that by another vessel (I heare 
M' Yongs, nifallor) you will be accomodated for transportation of your 
familye and what you jjurpose to bring hither, and that you incline to 
improve that opportunity, — whereof I am glad. Many hands are daily 
at worke for the iron-buisnes ; onely your presence is wanting to sett all 
things in a right course. If M™ Winthrop know how wellcome she 
will be to us, she would, I believe, neglect whatsoever others doe or 
may be forward to suggest for her discouragement. Salute her, with 
due respect, in ray name and my wifes, most affectionatel}-, together 
with M" Lake. The Lord Jesus pave your waye, and make your 
joiu-ney to us speedy and prosperous ! In whom I rest, Sir, 

Your exceedingly obliged, 

John Davenport. 
NEwnA\TEN, this 22 of the 9'" 55. 

My wife had a man in pursuitc that would be very fitt to manage 
your Island, if a marriage, which he is about, doth not liinder. My 
Sonne presents his humble service. ... I thanck you for the 2 bookes 
you sent me to peruse, which I am reading diligently.' 

* Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 3, vol. x. pp. 12-14. A 
week later Davenport wrote again to say that he had l.iiJ in some tables and cliairs, 
and that the apples would be kept safe from frost. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 49 

These later undertakings at New London and New Haven 
evidently did not cause him to abandon earlier ones in the parent 
Colony, as in May, 1656, the Massachusetts General Court voted: — 

This Court takeinge into consideracb the uncertaynty of pcureing salt 
amongst us for o' necessary uses, & what salt hath bin of late gotten 
hath bin at very deare rates, & whereas M' John Winthrop profereth 
to make salt for the colonie after a new way, never before devised or 
practised, & desire th that none other may make salt within this jurisdic- 
tion for the space of 21 yeares after his manner, w"** none before hath 
known or used, & that he may have that priviledge graunted him by 
this Court : this Gen" Court therfore doth hereby graunt unto the s* 
M' John Winthrop the priviledge of makeing salt after his new way 
within this jurisdiction, & that none other dureing the s** terme shall 
make salt after his manner without the s* M' Winthrops speciall 
license.' 

However gratifying it may have been to the townspeople of 
New Haven, and to Winthrop' s personal friends in that neighbor- 
hood, to have him so much among them, it excited a very oppo- 
site feeling in the Pequot country, and the following passage from 
a letter of Jonathan Brewster to him, dated Mohegan (near New 
London) Jan. 14, 165f, brings to mind the affectionate remon- 
strances of Nathaniel Ward, more than twenty-one years before, 
on the subject of Winthrop's long absence from Ipswich : — 

Sir, I with the rest of myne earnestly desyre your retume, with your 
family, if it might stand with your profitt & conveniency. Wee & the 
whole Towne & Church wantes you. We are as naked without you, 
yea indeed, we are as a body without a head, & would that we might 
injoye your presence. I feare God sees us not worthy to such a bless- 
ing. My praiers to God is & shall be to liim for that end, and my poore 
ability shall not be wanting to further the same. I have therefor stirred 
the Townesmen to grant you what encouragement they can afford you to 
sett up a Forge here, which may be one meanes to bringe you backe againe. 

There is a very characteristic letter from Brewster to Mrs. 
Winthrop, written on the same day, and for the same purpose. 
In it he says : — 

> Records of Massachusetts, vol. iii. p. 400. 



50 SKETCH OF 

When I or mine has occasion to come to Pequott and behold your 
house, and nether you nor any of yours there, it makes us sad & sorrow- 
full. . . . Yet when I consider your engagements of returning againe 
to your old habitation amongest us, your poore neighbois, it is as lyfe 
from death, & gives spiritt to me & myne to rest contented till that tjone 
come to enjoy your swete society once more, which will be made more 
pleasant, & I hope profitabile, than before, as oft times it faulles out soe 
that the goodnes of a thing is not so well knowen as when it is wanting 
& long absent from us. Therfor I desyre you to prove us once more, 
whether we will amend, & make apparent our love & good neighborred 
towards you & yours, that you may no more have cause to complaine of 
us. If I might have my will, you should not be from Pequott one 
month. . . . 

In the means tyme, I beseech you, be noe raeanes to hinder 
your honnored husband from returning, but rather perswad & further 
him in soe desyred a thing, thouglie of us not deserved. . . . Be will- 
ing, if God put into M' Winthrop hart and mynd to come, to consent 
& be ready to forward him thereunto, and not to put any rubbes in the 
way to hinder & perswad to staye where you are. You know weomen 
are very strong & powerful! to act this way, & overcoume the strongest 
& wisest men that ever were or are in the world, by perewations & sweto 
allurements to draw as an adamant their husbands will to theires. I 
knowe & am assured better of you, that you will hearken to councell & 
reason, though disadvantaigable to your selfe, in which confydence I 
hope once more to see you heare, & shall not be wanting to pray to God 
for that end.^ 

From time to time such appeals were renewed by Brewster and 
others, the former writing five months later : — 

It would glad ray heart to see you hearc. I spoke to j-our Worsliipp 
at the River's mouth about the same, & then you seemed willing, if 
your new stone house could be in any waics comfortable. Therfore I 
with some more here, & generally the whole Towne, are willing to help 
for that end, which will be k)th sliortly & suKstiintiall}' finished. . . . 
The Indians round about us are all of ffyer, fighting & quarrelling upon 
all occasiones i^' opportunitycs, in soe much that all commerce with them 
is stopped, to all our liindrances & losses. ... I pray you if possible 

> Jonathan Brewster was eldest son of Elder William I!rew8t<!r of Plymouth. For 
these two letters, with others from him, see Massachusetts Historical Society's Col- 
lections, Series 4, vol. vii. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 51 

to be here at our next Towne-meeting, which is appointed to end & 
conclude with Pakatucke, Misticke & Pequott about the old difference, 
which is by the last Courte ordered to agree, if possible, amongst our 
selves ; if not, they have ordered a Committie of Magistrals to come 
downe to end it. The persons are, first, Your Worshipp, Major Mason, 
Captain CuUett, M' Talcott, & M' Allin. I intreate you, if possibliely 
you can, to come over to helpe us heerin, so that chardges may be saved 
& scandall may be removed, which will be occasioned by the head-strong 
violent spiritts of some of our inhabitants, whom your presenc would 
much restrain .... 

Your servant Edmond, with his wife, now at my house, desyred me 
to informe your Worshipp that they ar all well upon the Hand. . . . 
Your maid likewise wants vessells for to sett milke in, & some chesse 
clothes, & would know your mynd about your wooU, & wantes a siffe, 
& some mealle, for our Mille is in repairing & will not be finished in 3 
weekes longer. ... If you could bring that book with you, you might 
do me a pleasuer. 

Indian troubles caused great delay in the receipt of letters, 
which often disappeared altogether, and when he wrote the above 
Brewster was unaware that Winthrop had become, more than a 
month before, Governor-elect of Connecticut, a post which would 
before long necessitate his removal from New Haven and admit 
of only occasional visits to New London. This election took 
place May 21, 1657, and the General Court subsequently passed 
the following votes : — 

May 21. The Court desires Capt. Cullick to write a letter to M' 
Winthrop, as speedily as may bee, to acquaint him to what place the 
Country have chosen him, & to desire his present assistance as much as 
may bee. 

Aug. 12. This Court orders that M' Winthrop, being chosen Gov'no' 
of this Collony, shall bee againe desired to come & live in Hartford, 
w* his family, while he gov^nes, they grant* him the yeerly use or 
profitts of the housing & lands in Hartford belonging to M' John 
Haynes, w"^" shall be yeerly discharged out of the publicke Treasury. 

Oct. — . The Court doth appoint the Treasurer to provide horses & 
men to send for M' Winthrop, in case he is minded to come to dwell w'" us.* 

1 Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol. i. pp. 298, 301, 306, There appear to be no 
letters from him dated Hartford earlier than the beginning of 1658. 



52 SKETCH OF 

It was in this same year, 1657, that Colonel Stephen "Win- 
throp, M, P., — that "great man for soul libertie," as Roger 
Williams called him, — offered to put his nephew Fitz-John in 
the way of receiving a commission in the Parliamentary army, 
if he would leave Harvard, where he was then a student, and go 
to England. The young man's tastes were those of a soldier 
rather than a student, and he embraced the earliest opportunity 
of sailing, though his father looked with natural misgivings upon 
the temptations of camp-life for a youth of barely nineteen. But 
two letters from him to his son at this period have been pre- 
served, both written from Boston in September, 1658, and con- 
taining the following good advice : — 

Be earnest w"" the Lord in praier, that having delivered you from 
those great dangers upon the seas, so he would preserve your soule and 
body fro eternall death, and all those snares and temptations and allure- 
ments of Sathan, sin and the world, y' might plunge your soule into 
perdition. Be carefuU to avoid all evill and vaine company, vf'^ are so 
great instrumets of Sathan to draw and intice to evill, and to allure the 
simple into the snares of destruction, as the bird is taken in the nett 
Whoso is wise will beware of them. Be not drawne, upon any motion 
or pretence whatsoever, into tavenies or alehouses, or any houses or 
copany of evill fame. I have often forewarned and psuaded you 
against wine and strong drinke, w"" if it were only for your health you 
should carefully shun, — yea, the very moderate use thereof. The 
often use of such things, though very raoderatel}' taken, is originall of 
great diseases and distemp" ; it never agreeth w"" the constitution and 
lungs of any of our family, and is more dangerous in those pts than 
heere.' Be very carefuU that you doe not rune into such debts as j'our 
employmet will not produce money fory' satisfying tlierof, for you know 
I being now in no way of trade shall not be able to helpe j^ou w'" any- 
thing thither by bills or otherwise. Therfore if such employmet dotli 
not affoard you comfortable maintenance 3'ou shalbe welcome to returne, 
but seeing Providence hath so ordered that 3'ou are among such good 
friends eyther in England or Scotland, I shall not call you back, but 
leave you to the guidance of y" Almighty to direct )'()ur way. Your 

1 Fitz-John was then in g.irrison in Scotland, a Lieutenant in a regiment com- 
manded by his maternal uncle, Thomas Ucade. His uncle Stephen Winthrop had 
died suddenly soon after liis arrival in London. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 53 

mother and sisters were very glad of those letters fro you, and have 
all of them written to you. They were in good health when I came 
fro Hartford. You should write by every way y' offers, eyther by 
Barbados, Virginia, or other opportunity, though never so breifly. 
Letters sent by way of Barbados or other pts must be inclosed to some 
knowne setled pson there that is also knowne heere ; but every direct 
passage I hope you will not faile.' 

VIII 

Up to the time that Winthrop became Governor a rule pre- 
vailed in Connecticut that no one should hold the office for two 
successive terms, in accordance with which system he became 
Deputy Governor in the following year, and as his duties thus 
proved less engrossing, an effort was made to draw him back to 
New Haven, John Davenport writing : — 

If you would please to stock your farme and to give order to have 
your land at Newhaven improved, you might live comfortably upon that 
which is your owne in this place. The people here also would be ready 
to serve you with theyre labours, and to take hold of all good occasions 
of declaring theyre thanckf ulness, — really as they are bound to doe — 
for your large and liberal helpefulness to them.^ 

So great a need, however, seems to have been felt at Hartford 
for his services at the helm, that a change was shortly after 
made by which, from 1659 until his death in 1676, he was con- 
tinuously elected to the Chief Magistracy, though not always, as 
will be seen, to his own satisfaction. His whole administration 
covered a period of nearly eighteen years, embracing many 
intricate and much vexed questions of boundary lines between 
Connecticut and her neighbors, the obtaining of a Royal Charter, 
the absorption of the Colony of New Haven, hostilities with the 
Dutch, and bloody and protracted conflicts with Indian tribes. 
To describe all these is not the purpose of this narrative, but 
some brief account is necessary of that official residence in Eng- 

1 Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 5, vol. viii. pp. 45-51. 



54 SKETCH OF 

land, from 1661 to 1663, which figures so conspicuously in his 
career. 

The Restoration of Charles II had excited very natural un- 
easiness in Connecticut, and an earnest desire was felt to obtain a 
Royal Charter similar to that enjoyed by Massachusetts. Tlie best 
chance of effecting this seemed to lie in the representation of the 
Colony in London by some one who possessed influential friends 
there, and Winthrop was accordingly sent out as Agent without 
relinquishing the Governorship, the General Assembly voting 
£500 for his expenses, — a sum which the Treasurer was unable 
to pay until long afterward, but which, in order to expedite 
matters, Winthrop raised by a mortgage of his Fisher's Island 
estate. He was fortunate to find still living his old patron, Lord 
Say, who strongly recommended him to another great friend of 
the Puritans, the Earl of Manchester, then Lord Chamberlain.' 
The latter made him acquainted with various prominent persons 
at Court, and the upshot was that, though detained abroad much 
longer than he first expected, he ultimately met with gratifying 
success, and was able to bring back a Charter conferring far 
more ample privileges than those he represented had dared to 
hope for. Associated with it in many minds is the following 
romantic legend, not improbably a creation of the fertile brain of 
Cotton Mather, which has since been gravely narrated by some 
historians, besides figuring prominently in the pages of novelists 
and poets : — 

M' Winthrop had an extraordinary ring, which had been given his 
grandfather by King Charles the First, which he presented to the King. 
This, it is said, exceedingly pleased his Majesty, as it had been once the 
property of a father most dear to him. Under tliese circumstances, tho 
petition of Connecticut was presented, and was received with uncom- 
mon grace and favor.^ 

> See Say's letter to Winthrop of Doc. 11, 1661. IMassachusotts Historical 
Society's Collections, Series 5, vol. i. p. 394. 

' Trumbull's History of Connecticut, vol. i. p. 248. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 55 

In sober fact, Winthrop's grandfather was a quiet Suffolk 
squire, of scholarly tastes and strong Puritan leanings, whose 
duties as a county magistrate did not require his attendance at 
Court, who died at a good old age two years before Charles I 
came to the throne, and who would seem to have been one of the 
last persons to have attracted the favor of that monarch when 
Prince of Wales. Moreover, in the common-place books, still ex- 
isting, in which this old gentleman was in the habit of recording 
memoraUUa of famous personages, there is no mention of the gift 
to himself by a prince of the blood of "an extraordinary 
ring," and the anecdote is probably one of those curious fables 
which encrust themselves upon history. It is, however, true that 
before Winthrop returned to New England he received a minia- 
ture of Charles II from the King himself, a distinction due, it 
may fairly be inferred, to his winning manner and diplomatic 
address, though the fact that his son had been a Captain in 
Monk's army on its famous march to London may possibly have 
contributed towards it. A later historian sums up his account of 
the whole matter as follows : — 

Winthrop was backed by powerful friends. He possessed singular 
qualifications for the business with which he was charged; and he 
applied himself to it with zealous diligence. With the pliancy which 
made part of his graceful character, he overcame the disgust that must 
have possessed him in approaching those whose savage revenge had just 
brought sorrow into his own home,^ and remembering only that he was 
the Governor and the euvoy of Comiecticut, solicited personal good- 
will in every quarter where it might serve her interests. These facts, 
however, afford but an insufficient explanation of the extraordinary 
result of his endeavours. We are still left to inquire liow it could be 
that a wary and ambitious minister, who, in the new zeal of office, was 
gathering into his master's hands all power that could be seized, was 
brought to make a formal grant of what almost amounted to in- 
dependence.^ 

1 Hugh Peter had been beheaded as a regicide less than a year before. 
^ Palfrey's History of New England, vol. ii. pp. 541-542. The reference is to Lord 
Clarendon. 



56 SKETCH OF 

Next to success in this mission he greatly enjoyed the oppor- 
tunity it afforded him for renewing and enlarging his acquaint- 
ance with men of learning. The Royal Society for improving 
Natural Knowledge, though not incorporated until 1662, was first 
organized in 1660, and its records show that, on the 11th of 
December 1661, Winthrop was proposed for membership by his 
friend William Brereton, afterward Lord Brereton. Admitted 
to the Society a few weeks later, he took an active part in its 
proceedings from that time until his departure from England in 
the early summer of 1663, reading papers upon a variety of 
subjects, — such as strange tides, the refining of gold, the mak- 
ing of pitch, tar, and pot-ashes, the planting of timber, the build- 
ing of ships in North America, deep-water soundings, black lead, 
a new way of Trade and Banking, and the brewing of beer from 
maize bread, — besides exhibiting at meetings a self-feeding 
lamp apparently invented by himself, a precious stone of different 
colors, a curious variety of earth which would float an hour with- 
out sinking, some bluish grains of corn grown in the "West Indies, 
and the drawing of a vessel built in New England.' 

Scientific experiments were his chief delight, and but for the 
separation from his wife and daughters we may well imagine this 
to have been the happiest part of his life." 

"War between England and Holland having broken out afresh, 
at the desire of the Royal Commander, Richard Nicolls, Winthrop 
was present, in August 1664, at the Capitulation of New Nether- 
land, thenceforth known as New York, ha^^ng used his personal 
influence with the Dutch Governor Stuyvesant to persuade him 
to surrender. Both his public duties and private concerns were 
exceptionally burdensome during the next few years. Despite 

1 Biroli's History of the Royal Society, vol. i. passim. 

' During her husband's absence Mrs. Winthrop passed a large part of her time in 
Massachusetts, where her eldest daughter had married Rev. Antipas Newman, Min- 
ister of Wenham, afterward of Rehoboth. The regiment of Fitz.-John Winthrop was 
disbanded not long after the Restoration, and he was much with his father in London, 
Trhere his younger brother joined them. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 57 

his untiring diligence and his undoubted capacity, he met with 
serious pecuniary losses. Neither his iron-works nor his lead- 
mines had been profitable, — the latter having been discontinued 
owing to the Indian wars, — whUe ships in whose cargoes he had 
latterly become largely interested were captured by the Dutch 
Admiral De Ruyter.^ Accordingly, in 1667, he asked permission 
to retire from the Governorship, alleging that his affairs were in 
lu-gent need of closer attention and that his duty to his family did 
not justify a further continuance in office. The General Assem- 
bly, however, refused consent, protesting that he could not be 
spared, and, to make things easier for him, they released his estate 
from taxation and granted him £110 out of the public treasury .'^ 
Such leisure as he could spare at this period was given to cor- 
responding with his colleagues of the Royal Society, and although 
the most elaborate papers he sent home to them were consigned 
by De Ruyter's cruisers to the bottom of the British Channel, 
yet there still remain to be consulted long letters of his dealing 
in turn with astronomical and chemical researches, with tides, 
water-spouts, caterpillars, comets, minerals, sea-dredging, the 
blight of corn, the effects of lightning, new ways of making salt 
and tar, with other topics too numerous to mention.' In one 
letter to the President of the Society, Sir Robert Moray, he de- 
scribes his reasons for suspecting the existence of a fifth satellite 
of Jupiter, — a discovery reserved to our own time, — and he 
made other observations with a little telescope subsequently given 
by him to Harvard College, the earliest astronomical instrument 
which that institution is known to have possessed.* 

J Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 5, vol. viii. p. 134. 

^ Trumbull's History of Connecticut, vol. i. p. 317. 

' Winthrop's correspondence with the Royal Society, — or such of it as escaped 
the Dutch, — is to be found in Massachusetts Historical Society's Proceedings, 
Series 1, vol. xvi. pp. 206-251, and it has also been privately printed in pamphlet 
form. 

* See a letter to him from the Corporation of Harvard on this subject, dated Feb. 
2, 167^, and printed in Massachusetts Historical Society's Proceedings, Series 2, vol. 
iv. pp. 2G5-2GC. 



58 SKETCH OF 

In October, 1G70, he wrote from Boston again offering to 
resign the Governorship, assigning as a reason " the necessity 
eyther of a voyage into England, or much longer stay in Mas- 
sachusetts than I intended when I came from Hartford," and he 
had previously chafed at being able to be so little at Fisher's 
Island, where he had long been successful in breeding horses, 
and had in view fresh experiments in making salt.^ The General 
Assembly, however, renewed their refusal, but endeavored to con- 
sole him by voting a further increase of salary, accompanied by 
valuable grants of land.^ At the close of 1672 came the great 
sorrow and irreparable loss of his old age, the death at Hartford 
of his wife, who had over-fatigued herself in taking care of him 
during a severe illness, and whose memory is perpetuated by affec- 
tionate allusions to her in the letters of Roger Williams, — one 
in particular. Near the village of Wickford in the Narragansett 
country, which took its name from her English home, was a spring 
at which she often drank in journeys to and from Boston, and 
which became widely known as Elizabeth's Spring. It was in 
allusion to it that Williams subsequently wrote her bereaved 
husband : — 

I constantly thinck of you and send up one remembrance to Heaven 
for you, and a groan from my selfe for mysclfe, when I pass Elizabeth's 
Spring. Here is the Spring say I (with a sigli) but where is Elizabeth ! 
My charity answers, she is gone to the Eternal Spring and Fouutaine of 
Living Waters.^ 

King Philip's war broke out in 1675 and some idea of the 
anxieties which beset Winthrop may be gleaned from the follow- 
ing extract from a long letter which Williams wrote him on the 
25th of June : — 

• The first liorse ever seen in Connecticut is stated to have been brought there by 
Wiiitlirop in 1G45, auJ tlie stud farm maintained by Iiim at Fisher's Island was con- 
tinued by his sons and grandson. 

" Trumbull's History of Connecticut, vol. i. p. 321. 

' Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 4, vol. vi. p. 299. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 59 

While we were discoursing .... in comes (as from Heaven) your 
dear son Major Winthrop to our assistance. . . . The last night they 
have (as is this morning said) slaine 5 English of Swansie & brought 
their heads to Phillip, & mortally wounded 2 more, with the death of 
one Indian. By letters from the Governour of Plymmouth we heare 
that the Plymmouth forces (about 200), with Swansie &, Rehoboth men, 
were this day to give battell to Phillip. Sir, my old bones & eyes are 
weary with travel, & writing to the Governours of Massachusets & Rode 
Island, & now to your selves. I end with humble cryes to the Father of 
Mercies to extend his ancient & wonted mercies to N : England.^ 

He had now entered the seventieth year of a life which had 
involved unremitting exertion and much exposure to severity of 
climate. It is not therefore to be wondered at that the pressure 
of physical infirmities had begun to bear heavily upon him, but 
when, for the third time, he asked permission to relinquish the helm 
to a younger pilot, proposing to recruit his health by a voyage to 
England,'^ he was met by such a chorus of remonstrance that he 
resigned himself to die in harness, nor had he long to wait. In 
September, 1675, he proceeded to Boston to attend a protracted 
session of the Commissioners of the United Colonies. In March, 
1676, when preparing to return to Hartford, he took cold, became 
feeble, and on the 10th of April was laid beside his father in 
what is now King's Chapel grave-yard. 

Seven and thirty years had then elapsed since he is known 
to have occupied his house at the East End of Ipswich, but 
that he continued during all this time in some degree in 
touch with the town is shown by occasional allusions in his 
domestic correspondence, particularly in the letters of Samuel 
Symonds, who at one time speaks of a visit from three of 
Winthrop's daughters " all in health, & as merry as very good 
cheere & Ipswich f rends can make them," — at another time 

1 Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 4, vol. vi. pp. 301-2. Both 
Winthrop's sons were then in the military service of Connecticut, but the younger 
was in command of this detachment, owing to his brother's illness. 

2 See his letter to the General Court of Connecticut, in Ibid., Series 5, vol. viii. 
pp. 168-169. 



60 SKETCH OF 

writes, " our friends at Salem, Wenham, & Ipswich are all in 
health, blessed be God," — and who not infrequently expresses 
the hope of a visit from Winthrop himself, the last of these invi- 
tations being as late as 1675. 

He left behind him an unusually large landed property'', — 
much of it unimproved, — scattered through the jurisdictions of 
Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts, the heirs being seven 
children, two sons and five daughters, several other children 
having died before him. His eldest son, Fitz-John, is best 
remembered as general in command of the Expedition against 
Canada in 1690, as Agent of Connecticut at tlie Court of Wil- 
liam and Mary, and as long Governor of that Colony. The 
younger, Wait, married for his first wife a daughter of Hon. Wil- 
liam Browne, of Salem, and after his father's death resided chiefly 
in Boston, where he sat for a long period in the Executive Council, 
became Chief Justice of the Superior Court, and was for nearly 
thirty years Major-General commanding the Massachusetts Militia. 
His second wife and widow figures prominently in Judge Sewall's 
diary. The five daughters were Elizabeth, who married, first, 
Rev. Antipas Newman, already alluded to, and second, Zerubbabel 
Endecott, a son of Governor Jolin Endecott, leaving issue only 
by her first marriage ; Lucy, who became first wife of Major 
Edward Palmes of New London, and died without sur\'iving issue ; 
Margaret, who married John Corwin of Salem, and left issue; 
Martha, who became third wife of Hon. Richard Wharton of 
Boston, and left two daughters ; Anne, who became second wife 
of Hon. John Richards of Boston, and died without issue. 

It is rarely, if ever, the lot of a public man to escape criticism, 
and some features of Winthrop's policy have been called in ques- 
tion. In a discriminating review of his administration a distin- 
guished historian says : — 

It is painful to have to spoak in terms of measured commendation of 
u man so virtuous ;is tlie second John Winthrop. Apart from his dis- 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 61 

tinguished elegance and accomplishments of mind, which belong to a 
different category, he was singularly amiable in all private relations. 
So gracefully did he bear his eminence, that no one was provoked to 
traduce or so much as prompted to envy him. He was so gentle and 
generous that to chssent from him cost a struggle. Everybody wished 
well to him who was everybody's well-wisher and helper. The cham- 
pions of New Haven, excited as they were, never mention him with 
harshness. Even John Davenport, with his strong and stern character, 
and his more just and comprehensive views of public affairs, could 
scarcely bear, in that catastrophe of New Haven which fired his heart, 
to oppose himself to his old and kind friend. Winthrop had, within his 
sphere, an excellent talent for affairs. The internal administration of 
liis Colony was conducted by him with great skill and good sense, as 
well as diligence. 

But to bestow on him the same amount of praise that is due to his 
illustrious father would be to confound things that widely differ. His 
character had not the same heroic cast. This was by the inferiority 
of his nature, and not by any vice of his principles. But history, which 
should express the cultivated moral sense of mankind, must not place 
any, who are borne away on a current of seductive or bewildering influ- 
ence, on the same level with those who breast the tide with hearts of 
controversy, sustained by consciousness of power in themselves, and by 
a supreme confidence that, against whatever strength of opposition, 
truth and right will prove their suificient allies. . . . 

It should not occasion surprise, if the experiences, public and pri- 
vate, through which the Governor of Connecticut had passed before the 
restoration of the British monarchy, at which time he was fifty-five 
3'ears old, had somewhat toned down the enthusiasm with which under 
parental influence he had entered upon life. He had now seen the once 
competent fortune of his family sacrificed in carrying out his father's 
generous enterprise. He had seen the great patriot party in England, 
which bespoke the devotion of his youth, dismally discredited by the 
errors of those whom events pushed to its front, and all its power scat- 
tered, and its glory vanished like a dream. 

It is no more than just to believe that Winthrop went to England 
after the Restoration without a purpose to wrong New Haven, or to 
weaken the Confederacy of the Four Colonies. In England, where his 
estimable and winning qualities were at once recognized, he was caressed 
and petted by men who did not love his adopted country as he did, or 
who, at all events, did not see its vital interests and honor in the light 
in which they were regarded by her own wisest sons. Lord Manchester, 



62 SKETCH OF 

Lord Anglesey, Lord Holies, and other Puritan nobles, who had become 
courtiers as the best thing to be done in those evil times, were willing 
to patronize New England, but only with circumspection and reserve. 
The aged Lord Saye and Sele, the early patron of the suitor from Con- 
necticut, had had enough of opposition to the King, and he had no 
partiality for the Colony of New Haven, which had been erected, with- 
out leave asked, on land of which he claimed to be a proprietor by Toyal 
grant. Robert Boyle, and the academicians over whom he presided, 
conferred the signal honor of election to their Society on the philosopher 
from beyond the water; and Boyle made no secret of his opinion that 
his New England friends would do well to be tractable and quiet. 
Lord Clarendon, whose scheme of Colonial policy was ripe, saw his 
opportunity to practise on the amiable envoy, and the blandishments of 
that courtly though arbitrary statesman were not easy to withstand.^ It 
is not safe for the most upright man to receive flattering attentions from 
those whose political designs he ought not to favor. It is by no means 
always to ill intentions, or to general incapacity, on the part of import- 
ant actors, that political errors and disasters are to be traced. If the 
influences to which Winthrop was subjected in England confused his 
perceptions of a patriot's duty, there is no proof that they ever tempted 
him to do a conscious wrong. It is fair to suppose that he was brought 
to see or to believe that an annexation of New Haven to Connecticut 
was the best provision attainable by liira for the well-being of both 
Colonies, and he honestly desired to make the calamity as little afllicting 
as possible to the aggrieved Colony.^ 

The foregoing passage was penned nearly forty years ago, and 
in the interval there has been a perceptible increase in the number 
of those students of history who incline to doubt whether the an- 
nexation of New Haven to Connecticut was either an error of 
judgment or a grave disaster. This is not the place to discuss 
such a question. At all events, the habitual moderation of Win- 
throp's political course was generally recognized, even by his op- 
ponents. Writing to him in 1660, Roger Williams said : — 

' In a footnotp the author refers to a letter from Winthrop to Boyle in the Works 
of the Honorable Robert Boyle, i. Ixxi., and prints a well-known letter from Claren- 
don to Winthrop, dated April 28, lOf!}. See also Boyle's letter to Winthro|). of April 
21, 1604, in Massachusetts Historical Society's Proceedings, Series 1, vol. v. pp. 270-277. 

» Palfrey's History of New England, vol. iii. p. 234-237. 



JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 63 

Sir, you were, not long since, the son of two noble fathers, M' John 
Winthrop and M' H. Peters. Surely I did ever, from my soule, honor 
and love them even when their judgments led them to afflict me. Yet 
the Father of Spirits spares us breath, and I rejoice that youre name is 
not blurrd, but rather honord, for your prudent and moderate hand in 
the late Quakers trials amongst us. And it is said that in the late 
Parliament your selfe were one of the three in nomination for Gen: 
Governor over New England, which however that design ripend not, 
yet your name keepes up a high esteeme. ... I rejoice to hear that you 
gain, by new plantations, upon this wilderness. The sight of yoiue 
hand hath quieted some jealousies that the Bay designed some prejudice 
to the liberty of conscience amongst us, and my endeavor shall be (with 
God's helpe), to wellcome, with both our hands and amies, your interest 
in these parts, though we have no hope to enjoy your personall residence 
amongst us.* 

And in the last letter Winthrop is known to have received 
from him, dated Dec. 10, 1675, and accompanying the gift of a 
little volume of poetry, Roger Williams wrote : — 

I have heard that you have bene in late consultations semper idem, 
semper paeijicus, & I hope therein beatus. You have always bene noted 
for tendernes toward mens soules, especially for conscience sake to God. 
You have bene noted for tendernes toward the bodies & infirmities of 
poor mortalls. You have bene tender too toward the estates of men in 
your civill steerage of government, & toward the peace of the land, yea, 
of these wild savages. I presume you are satisfied in the necessitie of 
these present hostilities, & that it is not possible to keepe peace with 
these barbarous men of blood, who are as justly to be repeUd & sub- 
dued as wolves that assault the sheepe. God hath helpt yourselfe & 
others with wonderfuU selfe denyall & patience to keep off this neces- 
sitie. But God (against whom only there is no fighting) is pleased to 
put this iron yoake upon our necks & (as he did with the Canaanites) 
to harden them against Joshua to their destruction. I fear the event of 
the justest war ; but if it please God to deliver them into our hands, I 
know you will antiquum obtinere, & still endeavour that our sword may 
make a difference, & parcere suhjectis, though we debellare superbos. . . . 

Sir, I hope the not approach of your deare son with his (your forces 
of Connecticut) is only through the intercepting of the posts ; for we 

1 Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Series 3, vol. x. pp. 27-28. 



64 JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER 

have now no passing by Elizabeths Spring without a strong foote. God 
will have it so. Dear Sir, if we cannot save our patients, nor relations, 
nor Indians, nor English, oh let us make sure to save the bird in our 
bozome, & to enter into that straight dore & narrow way, which the 
Lord Jesus himselfe tells us, few there be that find it.' 

In conclusion, Governor John Winthrop the younger will not 
go down in history as cast in the heroic mould of his father. 
Probably, but for his father's sake, he would not have remained 
in New England many years, so strong was his bent towards sci- 
ence. There can, however, be no question that, by those who 
find time to study his remarkable career, he ^vill always be 
regarded as an exceptionally many-sided man, conscientious and 
self-sacrificing, who entered heart and soul into whatever he 
undertook, and who, whether as a scholar, a soldier, a pioneer, a 
statesman, or a man of business, was greatly valued by his con- 
temporaries, and considered all-important to many enterprises. 

1 Massachusetts Historical Society's CoUectious, Series 4, vol. vi. pp. 305-306. 



APPENDIX 



I. 

An Inventorie of M". Winthrops Goods of Ipswitch ' 

Imp''.' In the Cham'' oV the Parlor 

1 feath' bed 1 banckett 1 cov'lett 1 blew rugg 1 boster & 2 pillowes 
1 trunck marked w* R. W. F. ^ wherein is 

1 mantle of silk w"" gld lace 

1 Holland tablecloth some 3 yds loung 

1 p (£ie.holl sheets' 

1 pillobear half full of childs linning etc 

5 childs blanketts whereof 1 is bare million (vermilion ?) 
1 cushion for a child of chamlctt 

1 cours table cloth 3 y''" long 

6 cros cloths & 2 gnives (?) 

9 childs bedds (beeds ?) 2 duble clouts 1 p' hoU sleeves 
4 apons whereof 1 is laced 

2 smocks 2 p' sheets 1 napkin 

1 whit square chest wherein is 

1 doz djrp [diaper ?] napkins 1 damsk napkin 
1 doz holl napkins 

* This inventory, mentioned on pages 9 and 10, exhibits the personal effects 
and live stock left in Ipswich by Winthrop on his departure for England in the 
autumn of 1634, after the loss of his wife and child. It has already been printed by 
this Society, but the suggestion has been made that it will hereafter be convenient to 
be able to refer to it in this volume. 

' These initials were probably A. W. F. (Anne Winthrop Fones, mother of 
Winthrop's wife), 

« Twilled holland ? 

5 



G6 APPENDIX 

2 doz & 2 napkins 

2 cuberd cloths 
11 pillowbeares 
11 ttt napkins 

2 table cloths 

4 towills 

1 l^ hoU shirt 

2 dyp towills 

3 dyp tabic cloths 
1 p-^ Hi holl sheets 

1 long great chest where in is 
1 black gowne tam'y * 
1 gowne sea greene 

1 childs baskett 

2 old petticotts 1 red [illeg.] 1 sand coll' serg 
1 p' leath' stockins 1 muff 

1 window cushion 

5 quision cases 1 small pillowo 

1 peece stript linsy woolcy 

1 p' boddyes 

1 tapstry cov'lett 

1 peece lininge stuff for curtins 

1 red bayes cloake for a woman 

1 p' of sheets 

In the Cham'' 07f the Kychin 

1 featlr bed 1 boster 1 pillowe 2 blanketts 2 ruggs bl & w' 

2 floq bedds 5 ruggs 2 bolsters 1 pillowe 
1 broken warming pan 

In the Garrett ChamT ov' the Storehowse 
maney small things glasses potts &c 

In the Parlor 

1 bedsted 1 trundle bedsted w"" curtins & vallences 
1 table & 6 stooles 

' Tainiiiv, a sort of woollen cloth. 



APPENDIX 67 

1 muskett 1 small fowleing peece w"" rest & bandeleer 

1 trunke of pewter 

1 cabbinett wberein the servants say is rungs, jewills, 13 silv' spoones 

this I cannot open 
1 cabbinett of Surgerie 

In the Kyttchin 

1 brass baking pan 

5 milk pans 

1 small pestle & morter 

1 Steele mill 

14 musketts rests & bandeleers 

2 iron kettles 2 copp' 2 brass kettles 

1 iron pott 

2 bl jacks 

2 skillitts whereof 1 is brasse 

4 poringers 

1 spitt 1 grat' 

1 p'' racks 1 p' andirnes 1 old iron rack 

1 iron peele 1 grediron 1 p"' tongs 

2 brass ladles 1 p' bellowes 
2 stills w"'bottums[?] 

In M'' Wards hands 

1 silv' cupp 6 spoones 1 salt of silver 

In the ware howse 

2 great chests naled upp 

1 chest 1 trunk w'^'' I had ord' not to open 
1 chest of tooles 

6 cowes 6 steeres 2 heiffers 
dyvers peeces of iron & Steele 

P' me Will Clarke 

Indorsed by Governor Winthrop : Innyer (?) of my sones goods (^last 
two words illegible) 



68 APPENDIX 

11. 

Letters to John Winthrop, J". ' 

To my loveing brother John Winthrop, Essq^, in England or elswhere, dd. 

Septemb 27 : 1642. 
Loving brother, 

I could not but writ thes fewe lines unto you, being verey 

desierus to heare from you, it being so I cannot see you heare ; but 

I hop it will not be long but you will bee hears. Wee thinke the time 

verey long since you wint away. Wee know it cannot but be verey 

greves to my sistar to be so long absent from you, thoth she bares 

it verey well before company. Therfore I jiray hastin to us and let not 

Wate Still wate any longer. You know, I suppose, your sones name is 

so.^ I mast be l)refe becas I am unfit to writ much. I have laine in 

and have another lekill girll, and have kept my chambar tliis nine wekes, 

and have had a sore brest, but the Lord hath bin verey good to me. 

My husban is well, and is at the Bay at the Court aconsulting what to 

doe about the Ingines. Wee are in feare of thim. My sistar Lake is 

heare and desires to be remembared to you. This with my love to 

you remembared, I commet you to the Lord and rest 

Your ever loving Sistar 

Martha Simons. 

For my very loveing Uncle, JohnWinthroioc Esq^ now in Boston, this present. 

Loveing Uncle, 

This is to intreat you to remember to make some thing for my 
mans arme, and leave it with my Sister Duncan, and if you can con- 
veniently, something for my eyes, for tlie rume troubles me as it did 
before, and some direction how I should use it. I had hopes of coming 
to Boston before now, b>it the weatlier hath much hindered me in my 

> Early Tpswich Ii^ttcrs, liowever niiiniportaiit, possess a certain interest, and 
these two are the only ones found anionj; Wintlirop's papers •nhich were addressed to 
him by their respective writers. The first is from his wife's sister, the second wife of 
Samuel Symonds, who had previously married Daniel Epjies, the elder. The second 
is from this lady's son Daniel Eppes, the younger, who subsequently married Eliza- 
beth SvmoiKls, a daughter of his step-father by the latter's first wife, Dorothy 
Ilarlakonden. 

^ Winthrop's second son, born Feb. 26, IRl^ , during his f.ather's absence, 
was christened Waite Still, but was afterward habitually known only as Wait. He 
is sometimes stated to have boon born in KVl^, but this letter, and the records of 
the First Church of Boston, establish the contrary. 



APPENDIX 69 

occasions, and have little hope of coming within any short time. If 
providence should so order that wee doe not see you here nor there, 
I would intreat you to present my servis, with my wife's, to my Ant 
Winthrope, and our love to all our coussens. Soe haveing no more 
to trouble you with, I shall remaine yours to be comanded in any 
servis. 

Daniell Epps. 
From Ipswich, 3. 8'? 1658. 

III. 

Will of John Winthrop, J"-, 1661. 

I being at present, through the goodnese of the Almighty, in good 
health of body, yet intending (if God please) to make a voyage over 
the seas into Europe, — finding to my full satisfaction after long & 
serious consideration the Lord directing me thereunto, as by a full, 
cleere & necessary call to undertake that voyage, — I doe comitt 
my selfe, soule & body, into the hands of the Almighty, my faithfull 
Creator & mercifull Redeemer, whether in life or death, relying 
only upon his divine providence & goodnesse for protection & guidance 
in this long voyage, — so relying only upon the meritts of my gratious 
Saviour for the salvation of my Soule in the day of his glorious appear- 
ing & the resurrection of the just, resting in full hope & assurance 
of my part therein through the wonderfull power & virtue of his 
resurrection, I thought it necessary for the setling of my outward 
estate for the cofort of my family, to make this my last Will & 
testament in mSner following : — 

First, I desire that all my just debtes may be satisfied out of 
my stock of horses, mares, goates, sheepe, and great cattle, — such 
as are not lett out, — as also out of the rents of my Hand, and 
Mill at New London, if other stock will not doe it, — w"*" ever may 
be best done according to the ordering of the Executors, w* the advice 
of any friends they may see cause to take councell of in y' case. 

I give & bequeath to ray deare wife one hundred pounds p annfi 
to be paid unto hir yearly during hir life in this maner following : — 
That whereas my farme of Mistick is made over as a joynture to hir 
for hir maintenance during hir life, it is my will, and my true intent & 
meaning, that there shalbe so much more paid unto hir out of Fishers 
Hand, or the Mill at New London, or both, or any other of my estate 
as may, — w"" that rent or profitts w'^'' shalbe fro my said farme at 



70 APPENDIX 

Mistick called Tenhills, neere Charlestowne in the Colony of the 
Massachusetts, and the orchard there, — amount to the full sume of 
one hundred pounds p annii, to be paid to hir at such place as she 
shall direct, w^'out any care or trouble to hir selfe. 

I give also to my wife the use and dwelling in my house at 
Tenhills, and that at New London (both as it now is, or when it 
shalbe finished for a dwelling house), during hir life, that she may 
chuse vf'^ of those houses she will, or both of them, if she will some- 
times change hir habitation for hir health & the health of hir family. 
Also, I give hir the use of the house at Hartford w<='' I have hired for the 
remainder of the tyme thereof of this last yeare y' it is in my hands. 

Also, I do give unto hir my said wife the use of all the household 
goods, as bedding, pewter, brass, iron, linen, or any other things, that 
are eyther at Hartford, or Newhaven, or New London, or ISIistick, 
or Boston, during hir life, & power to dispose of them amongst our 
children as she shall thinke fittest, eyther in her life tyme or at hir 
death. Also I give hir six cowes, & five mares, & the greate gray 
liorse, to be hirs to dispose of as she will, and ten sheepe ; and the 
use of my negro Strange, alias Kabooder, halfe his tyme ; — but the 
other halfe I allow to himselfe during his life, if his mistris consent 
to it. My meaning is that he should, if he doth not desire to live 
w"" Mr, or she not willing to keepe him, then he should worke for 
hir, or her assignes, as she hath occation, thi'e daies in the weeke, 
& the rest of the tyme to make the best of it for himselfe, — or as he 
can agree w"" his mistris upon daies, to take allowance of hir for 
that pt of his tyme that I allow him for liimselfe if she desireth it 
<fe he be willing, as they may yearly agree, — & after hir death I sett 
him wholy free to worke or plant wholy for himselfe, provided he 
did carry himselfe well to hir, and provided he doth not sell himselfe, 
or any other waies dispose of himself to any other, except to be hired 
for some short tyme as an English laborer or workma. 

And I doe give unto him the said Kaboonder twenty acres of 
land, eyther at Mistick in the Pequot country, or betweene the Saw- 
mill & Aluwife Brook, w"^"" he shall cliuse, or at Quinibage if there 
be a plantation there, — and if he take it tliere, I allow him 10 
acres of meadow there, besides the twenty acres of upland, out of 
my division of lands there when it shall come to be divided, or 
before, if my loving friends M^ Uicharsou <fe the rest will lay it 
out for him there.' 

> By family tradition, Kaboonder was a native African who claimed to have 
been a chief in his own rniintry, ami in whose fi<lelity Winthrop plnrcd much 
confidence. 



APPENDIX 71 

Also, I give to my daughter Lucy my farm at Niantique w'='' is 
lett out unto Isaac Willie & his son in law who maried his daughter, 
to hir and hir Iieires for ever, — but if she should not have heires of 
hir owne body, nor dispose of it by Will, then I give it to my son 
Wait Still Winthrop & his heires for ever, provided he pay out of 
it fifty pounds apiece to my daughters, Margaret, Martha & Anne, 
w"* in one yeare after his right to it should fall out, otherwise the 
rent of it to go to tlie raising of these fifty pounds, that is, to Margaret 
the first yeare & Martha the next, & to Anne the next yeare, so to 
be continued till the said sumes are paid, & then to be to my sonne 
Wait Still & his heires as aforesaid. Also I give to my daughter 
Lucy one mare & two cowes, & the little white horse w'*" is called 
hir horse already, & six sheepe. 

I give to my daughter Margaret that farme w'^'' I have at the head 
of Mistick River, neere goodma Culvers, & that land there w'^'' I bought 
of Jeames Morgan, to hir & hir heires for ever, and a mare and thre 
cowes and five ewe sheepe and ten goates, to be put on it. 

Also, I give to my daughter Martha the one halfe of that fifteene 
Imdred acres of land v^^ I have a grant fro the Court to have it laid out 
behind M' Brewsters about Poquatanuck, or whereev'^ else by the Courts 
consent it may be laid out, to be to hir & hir heires for ever. Also I 
give her one mare & two cowes, & 5 sheepe & ten goates. I give the 
other halfe thereof to my daughter Anne & her heires for ever. Also I 
give hir one mare & 2 cowes, 5 sheepe & ten ew goates. 

I give my son Waite Still my gray mare & another mare colt, & the 
horse w'^'" he hath now. 

I give also to my negro Caboonder one heifer or cowe, & if it should 
die before he hath of the breed of it, then he to have an other yeai'ling 
heifer. 

Also I give to M' Samuell Stone, the teacher of Hartford, my worthy 
friend, one young mare of two yeare old, of the breed of the star or 
roane mare, w'^'' are the best bi'eed, or in want thereof of any else. 

But if it should fall out that any of the foresaid lands should be 
sold necessarily for the paymet of debts or other considerations, then 
my will is that there should be double the quantity laid out for any 
of them, to whom the other should have come, at Quinibage, before my 
other lands there be disposed of. 

I give unto my thre younger daughters, Margaret, Martha & Anne 
thre hundred pounds apeice, to be paid out of Fishers Hand, and the 
Mill at New London, and the farme at Poquanack, w^in a yeare after 
their mariage the one halfe, and the other halfe a yeare after, or as they 



72 APPENDIX 

shall be at the age of eighteene years, and in the meane while, & till they 
be married, to be mainteined out of the whole estate ; and if any of 
them should die before their mariage then the third part to be to the 
two other & the rest to my two sonnes. 

I give to my sonne Waite the Sawmill & the land adjo3'ning to it, 
& that w*^^*" is betweene that & Alewife Brooke, if it be not sold ; also that 
w"'' was bought of George Chapell neere the waterside on the North 
Side of Alewife Brooke ; and also my share in that w'^'' is at Monhegan 
betweene Jeames Rogers & John Elderkin & my selfe ; also the house 
& halfe the land at New London neere the Mill ; also my interest in any 
land at Pacatuck & the Mill there ; also my part of the great neck at 
Naragausett where Major Atherton & Capt. Hutchenson have theire 
parts ; also halfe of my right of Point Judie or any other pt of Narogan- 
set, & halfe my right of the remainder of Quinibage lands ; also halfe 
the lead mine at Tantiusques & the land about it ; and the third pt of 
the cleere rent of Fishers Hand during his life, after his motliers decease 
& sisters legacies paid, w'^'' shalbe first paid out of the whole estate ; 
and all the other fore mentioned to be to him & his lieires for ever. 

I give to every one of my daughters six hundred acres of land at 
Quinibage, and to my two sonnes one thousand acres each, to be laid 
out to them all impartially. 

My will is that my daughter Newman <fe my daughter Lucy should 
have one hundred jjounds apeice, also to be paid out of Fishers Hand & 
the Mill at New London & Poquanuck & the whole estate, w"'iu seven 
yeares. 

The rest of my estate I give to my son Fitz-John and his heires for 
ever, and if eyther of my sonnes should dye w^ut issue, my will is 
that his estate should be halfe to the other son & the rest to be divided 
among the rest of my child" ; and I doe make & constitute my beloved 
wife, & my two sons, & my son Newma, and my daughter Lucy ; Ex- 
ecutors of this my Will. 

Witnessc my hand, July 12, 1661. 

John Winthrop.* 

Witnesses hereto, 
that it is 8oe lined : 

Sam. Stone. 

TlIO. WiLLETT. 

' Unpiiblishod Wintlirop l'a]>o,rs. Tlie original is wholly iu the handwriting 
of the testator, and is closely written on a single sheet of foolscap, with numerous 
intorliueations and erasures. It would .seem as if he must have iixtended it as merely 



APPENDIX 73 



IV. 

Will of John Winthrop, J". 1676. 

I, John Winthrop, of the Colony of Conuecticott in N : Engl., now 
resident in Boston, being sicke in body, but through mercy of pfect 
memory & understanding, doe make this my last Will & Testament as 
foUoweth, renouncing all other & former Wills whatsoever : 

First, I comitt my soul unto God my faithf all Creato'', trusting that 
through the meritts of my dear Redeemer I shall have a glorious resur- 
rection of this vile body, w'^'' shall be made like to his Glorious Body, 
that though, after my skin, the wormes shall destroy this flesh, yet w"" 
these eyes I shall behold my Redeemer & be for ever w'-'' the Lord. My 
body to the earth, to be decently interred att y* discretion of my Ex- 
ecuto" hereafter named. 

As for my temporall estate, w""* the Lord hath lent me here, I dis- 
pose of it as foUoweth: — And first my will is that my just debts be 
duely paid, after w"'', & my funerall charges being defrayed, I will & 
bequeath unto my two sonns, Fitz-John & Wayt Still, to each of them 
an equall proportion out of my est;xte, w''' is to be a double portion to 
each of them, — that is, double to what I give to each of my daughters, 
— the rest of my estate to be equally to my five daughters, viz: Eliza- 
beth, Lucy, Margarett, Martha, & Anne. Only, my will is that, in the 
computation of my estate, whereas I have already given to my daughters 
Elizabeth & Lucy good farmes, w'''' they are in possession of, that that 
may be considered by the overseers of this my Will hereafter named, & 
proportionably accompted as p* of their portion, abatem' to be made out 
of the p''sent legacy, to them given above, accordingly. 

And I doe hereby nominate & apoint my two sons Fitz-John & 
Wait Still, & my five daughters above named, to be Executo" & Execu- 
trixes of this my last Will & testament, and I doe request the psens 
hereafter named to accept y'' trouble to be overseers of this Will & settle 
all things accordingly. And I do declare that it is my will that if any 
question, difiiculty, or difference arise in or about this my Will, it shall 

a rough draft, but that, finding himself too busy to re-wi-ite it, he proceeded to sign it 
before witnesses. The signatures of the latter are genuine. Filed with it was found 
a general Power of Attorney, enabling his wife to manage his property during his 
absence, and suggesting that, in so doing, she should take counsel of his son-in-law 
Newman and his friend Amos Richardson of Boston. This latter document is dated 
July 3, 1661, and witnessed by Samuel Stone, Richard Lord, Seur, JIatthew Gris- 
wold, John Tinker, and James Xoyes. 



74 APPENDIX 

be determined by them or any three of them. The psons are : of 
Couecticott, Capt. Jolm Allin, M' Will™ Jones, & Major Robert Treat ; 
of Boston, M' Humphry Davy, M' James Allin, & my brother John 
Richards. 

In witnes that this is my hist Will & Testam' I have hereunto sett 
my hand & scale. Done in Boston this third day of Aprill, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand six hundred seventy six. 

John Winthrop. 
Signed, sealed, published 

& declared in p''sence of 

Thomas Thacuer, Sen'. 

John Blake. Vera copia : 

John Allyn, Sec'y. i 

OcTOBB 8, IGSO. 



Readers of early New England literature will not improbably recall 
a little volume entitled " Poetical Meditations of Roger Wolcott, Esq'.," 
published in 1725, no less than sixty pages of which are devoted to a 
narrative poem in celebration of Winthrop's acliievements at the Court 
of Charles II. With all due respect for that excellent man, the first 
Governor Wolcott, he does not appear to advantage as a poet, — and 
the same remark may be applied, with even greater emphasis, to several 
of Winthrop's contemporaries, who, with the best intentions, composed 
funeral elegies in his honor. One of these productions, however — a 
black-letter broadside, of which only one copy is known to exist — con- 
tains some lines not wholly without merit, and it is here furnished as an 
example of the peculiar manner in which our forefathers struggled to 
express their sympathy in metrical or rhythiuical forms. 

1 Unpublished Winthrop I'apers. The original was dictated by Winthrop in 
his last illness, and executed by liiiii the day but one before ho died. He therein 
styles John llichards "brother " because the latter had married, for his first wife, the 
widow of Winthrop's brother Adam. It should be added that a portion of his lands 
had previously been entailed on the male line of his family for two generations. 



APPENDIX 75 

A 

FtnsTEEAL Tribute 

To the HoTWurabU Bust of tliat most Charitable Christian, Unbiassed 
Politician and Unimitahle Pyrotechnist 

John Winthrope, esq: 

A Member of the Royal Society, & Governour of Conecticut Colony 

in New JSngland 

Who expired in his Countreys Service, April 6'}, 1676. 

Another black Parenthesis of woe 

The Printer wills that all the World should know. 

Sage Winthrop prest with piiblick sorrow Dies, 

As the Sum total of our Miseries. 

A Man of worth who well may ranked be 

Not with the thirty but the peerless three 

Of Western Worthies, Heir to all the Stock 

Of praise his Sire received from his Flock. 

Great Winthrops Name shall never be forgotten 

Till all New Englands Race be dead and rotten, 

That Common Stock of all his Countries weal 

Whom Grave and Tomb-stone never can conceal. 

Three Colonies his Patients bleeding lie, 
Deserted by their great Physicians eye, 
Wliose common sluce is poized for their tears. 
And Gates fly open to a Sea of fears. 
His Christian Modesty would never let 
His name be near unto his Saviours set ; 
Yet Miracles set by, hee'd act his part 
Better to Life than Doctors of his Art. 
Projections various by fire he made 
Where Nature had her common Treasure laid. 
Some thought the tincture Philosophick lay 
Hateht hy the Mineral Sun in Winthrops way. 
And clear it shines to me he had a Stone 
Grav'd with his Name which he could read alone. 



76 APPENDIX 

To say how like a Scevola at Court, 
Or ancient Consuls Histories report, 
I here forbear, hoping some learned Tongue 
Will quaintly write, and not his Honour wrong. 
His common Acts with brightest lustre shone, 
But in Apollo's Art he was alone. 
Sometimes Earths veins creeping from endless holes 
Would stop his plodding eyes : anon the Coals 
Must search his Treasure, conversant in use 
Not of the Mettals only but the juice. 
Sometimes his wary steps, but wandring too. 
Would carry him the Chrystal Mountains to. 
Where Nature locks her Gems, each costly spark 
Mocking the Stars, spher'd in their Cloisters dark. 
Sometimes the Hough, anon the Gardners Spade 
He deigned to use, and tools of th' Chymick trade. 

His fruits of toyl Hermetically done 

Stream to the poor as light doth from the Sun. 

The lavish Garb of silks, Rich Plush and Rings, 

Physicians Livery, at his feet he flings. 

One hand the Bellows holds, by t'other Coals 

Disposes he to hatch the health of Souls ; 

Which Mysteries this Chiron was more wise 

Than unto ideots to Anatomize ; 

But in a second pereon hopes I have 

His Art will live though he possess the Grave.* 

To treat the Morals of this Healer Luke 
Were to essay to write a Pentatuke, 
Since all the Law as to tlic Moral part 
Had its impression in his spotless heart. 
The vertues shining brightest in his Crown 
Were self depression, scorning all renown ; 
Meekness and Justice were together laid 
When any Subject from good order straid. 
Neither did ever Artificial fire 
Boyle up the choler of his temper higher 

' This is evidently an allusion to Wait Winthrop, who inherited his father's 
taste for the study of medicine. 



APPENDIX 77 

Than modest bounds, in Church and Commonwealth 

Who was the Balsome of his Countries Health. 

Europe sure knew his worth who fixt his Name 

Among its glorious Stars of present fame. 

Here Royal Charles leads up, stands Wintlirope there 

Araongs the Virtuosi in the Rear: 

But for his Art with hundreds of the rest 

He might be placed in Front and come a Breast. 

What Soul, in souldings 'tother side the Serene, 
With Souls turn'd Angels guess we to have been 
When first his Chariot wheels the threshold felt 
Where Winthrops, Dudleys, Cottons Spirits dwelt I 
What melting joys are there ! Sorrows below. 
Should adequately from New England flow ; 
If Saints be intercessors, heres our hope 
We need not be beholding to the Pope. 
We have as good ourselves, — an honest Brother 
Outvies their Saintship there or any other. 
Now Helmonts lines so learned and abstruse 
Are laid aside and quite cast out of use, 
And Authors which such vast expenses spent 
Lye like his Corps ; — his Ear is only lent 
To Heavenly Harmonies, all things his Eye 
Views in the platforme whence all forms did fly; 
His labours cease for ever, but the fruit 
He reaps at Fountain head without dispute. 

B. THOirpsoN.i 

1 Benjamin Thompson, who generally wrote his name Tompson, is sometimes 
styled the first Native American poet. After graduating at Harvard in 1662, he 
was successively a school-master in Boston, Charlestown, Braintree, and Roxbury, 
but also practised medicine. Among his later productions is an Elegy on Fitz John 
Winthrop in 1708. 



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